Just curious; is Gingrich still a respected member of the Right?

[kurto]

He was on the Daily Show last night. There was some talk of about the hint of him considering a Presidential run. Is he a viable candidate these days?

He made a remark that makes me think he's not in... he was praising Hilary Clinton. He was basically saying she was a great politician and was doing good work. He praised her competence. (and of course has been working closely with her trying to work on healthcare)

I know its all the rage for years now for the right to hate Hilary Clinton (which I've never really understood what they think she did that was wrong except that she was a Clinton)... can Gingrich be considered credible when he clearly respects Hilary Clinton? Seems unlikely.

[Felix_Nietsche]

....Newt and Hillary have made a poltical alliance to help eachother win their primary. They both want to be president and they both want to run against eachother (they each secretly think they can beat eachother).

But...they both have to win their primaries. Newt has been bolstering Hillary by praising her qualifications and I suspect Hillary can't recipocate because she would alienate her base. I have no evidence but it would explain Newt's sudden love-fest with Hillary.

[lehighguy]

He's still alive?

[andyfox]

Newt believe the Republicans are making a big mistake if they are licking their chops ove the prospects of Hillary being the Democratic nominee. He thinks she's a good, tough, smart politician. Maybe he's trying to open their eyes.

We've discussed the possibilty of Newt's candidacy here before. I said I thought he'd be a formidable candidate, but, if memory serves, I was in the decided minority in that position.

[kurto]

So, you find it implausible that they could both respect each other?

I find myself surprisingly optimistic about him. According to recent things I've seen (I think, for one, it was an essay by one of the columnists in Time Magazine) who mentioned a phenomenon where moderates in each party have been secretly working together to address serious issues. That there's a new force of moderates starting to band together.

And that these people might actually respect each other, want to drop the partisan rancor and try to get things done.

I've seen/heard numerous things by Newt that has made me respect him more over the years.

Where I get pessimistic is that if I think he's willing to work in moderation... he'll be jettisoned by the hard right.

[kurto]

[ QUOTE ]
Newt believe the Republicans are making a big mistake if they are licking their chops ove the prospects of Hillary being the Democratic nominee. He thinks she's a good, tough, smart politician. Maybe he's trying to open their eyes.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah. Though I think that's unlikely. Since I don't think their hatred of her has any rational basis, I don't see them suddenly looking at her objectively because Newt might.

(For the record) I don't necessarily think much about Hillary. She's kind of a non-entity that really only comes up when Republicans (for the past 5-6 years) have brought her up to trash her.

But I don't think she's done anything to merit that much attention for good or for bad.

I believe her biggest fault is being associated with someone else they loved to hate.

[bholdr]

[ QUOTE ]
Newt believe the Republicans are making a big mistake if they are licking their chops ove the prospects of Hillary being the Democratic nominee. He thinks she's a good, tough, smart politician. Maybe he's trying to open their eyes.


[/ QUOTE ]

she is a skillful tactician, well spoken, and a woman that could potentially pull females that voted for bush back to the democratic party. she has the best advisors and connections, the best fund-raising networks, the ear of powerful foreign leaders, and she's sleeping with one of the most skillful politicians in modern times... and to top it all off, she is positioning herself as a real moderate.

I used to think she was fairly unelectable, but the last two years have changed my opinion- now, i think she is a FORCE. if you cons continue to underestimate her abilities and qualifications, you're gonna be in for a suprise come '08, especially if she runs with someone like clark or liberman. big suprise.

Newt vs Hillary would be a sight to see.

[kurto]

[ QUOTE ]
especially if she runs with someone like clark or liberman.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm glad to say, I don't think Lieberman is a viable candidate anymore.

[andyfox]

If Hillary is the nominee, she should pick a running mate who will help her win a key state. This was Kerry's mistake (or one of them): he picked a guy who could only help him in states he had no chance of winning. Bush made the same mistake in 2000 but lucked out (by hook or by crook /images/graemlins/wink.gif).

[[censored]]

Yes he is a respected member of the party when it comes to ideas and policy. However at this point he is not considered a serious candidate within the party due to the high negatives he brings to the tables.

[natedogg]

read this article (http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/Cover/index.html)

God help us.

natedogg
PS: You really gotta see the image, at least click the link for that. Can't figure out how to get an image to show in my message, sorry.

[Broken Glass Can]

Gingrich is smart. He knows how to sell books. He is pretending an interest in the White House to sell books.

[kurto]

Actually, he never outright said he was considering it. It seemed that Stewart was the one pushing it.

I don't know if Gingrich has said/done other things to suggest he was running.

It was one of those; he wouldn't deny it or confirm it kind of thing.