Do you want to start rebuilding your party? Do you want to reach out and bring back the fiscally and socially conservative voters who abandoned your party in the last 6 years? Are you more interested in that than you are in holding tight to the Lasee/Reynolds crowd?
Then you should listen to this guy:
He began benignly enough, using an anecdote about going to Disney World
with his grandchildren to explain an epiphany he'd had about the value of not
"thinking like a Republican." From there Gingrich moved into waters the students
surely did not expect. He cited the Detroit school system, where a black male is more likely to go to prison than graduate from high school.
"How can we tolerate systems more likely to send young Americans to
prison than college?" asked Gingrich. "Republicans have this maniacally dumb
idea of red versus blue. They say Detroit is a blue place, so we're not going to
go there."
And he was just getting started.
"Republican political doctrine has been a failure," Gingrich said.
"Look at New Orleans. How can you say that was a success? Look at Baghdad ...
We've been in charge for six years and I don't think you can look around and say
that was a great success.
"We have got to get beyond this political bologna. I'm not allowed to
say anything positive about Hillary Clinton because
then I'm not a loyal Republican, and she's not allowed to say anything positive
about me because then she's not a loyal Democrat. What a stupid way to run a
country." This last line he nearly spat out, expressing what seemed like genuine
outrage. But the response was muted. Tepid applause bubbled up and then died
within seconds.
Inhofe had recommended the students read Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" to learn about the global warming hoax, but
Gingrich suggested they pick up newly elected French Prime Minister Nicolas
Sarkozy's "Testimony."
And finally, when it seemed he'd been as blasphemous as he could
possibly be, Gingrich pulled out a whopper: "None of you should believe we are
winning this war," he said, referring to the so-called war on terror. "We are in
a phony war ... we have not been taking this seriously."
I have no idea if he's had an epiphany or if he's simply trying to stir the pot. Either way it's a message that will ring true with people you're not reaching now, Mr Priebus.
3 comments:
Those are the first words that came out of Newt's mouth that I can respect and agree with.
How refreshing to hear somebody as prominent as Gringrich acknowledge the corrosive effects polarization has on our democracy. It's sad how many people step into the voting booth and feel like they have to choose the candidate they dislike the least. That's why we need to get rid of the two-party primary system of voting and change to an instant runoff election where the voters can rank numerous candidates. Politicians would focus more on the issues instead of just reacting to each other's positions. This would mean far less mud-slinging and the American public would be more willing to vote and be engaged in the huge issues that this country and world face.
If you think about it, the idea that two parties can properly represent the entire voting-eligible population in the United States just doesn't make any sense.
Harrumph. He started it, and now he regrets it?
Fine. But he doesn't get any points for it. Once an opportunist, always an opportunist -- that's still Newt. I can tell by the smell. . . .
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