In a desperate attempt to stop Newt Gingrich, Romney and the GOP Establishment hit a new low…a coordinated attack to take down Newt Gingrich by picturing the former Speaker as a strong critic of President Ronald Reagan. In an era where Ronald Reagan was clearly a visionary in his dealings with Gorbachev, Newt may have disagreed with the President’s approach but to take that one area of disagreement over a lifetime of fighting for Reagan’s agenda is clearly disingenuous. What is disturbing is that many well intentioned people or otherwise had taken the story and ran with it.
The perpetrators of the smear have clearly chosen to ignore the endorsement of Michael Reagan and Nancy Reagan. Rush Limgaugh and Michael Reagan came out strongly and lambasted the Romney’s campaign:-
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Ronald Reagan’s eldest son Mike Reagan has issued a statement lambasting Mitt Romney and his supporters for claims that Romney’s Republican presidential rival Newt Gingrich was a strong critic of President Reagan.
Reagan says such claims are false.
Even Rush Limbaugh, shocked by the Romney claims, chimed on his Thursday radio broadcast to say “This is obviously a coordinated attack to take Newt out here in Florida.”
Rush slammed the Romney-backed smear campaign against Newt.
“That kind of stuff is why people hate Romney so much,” Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh added that Newt has always been a conservative from his early days in national talk radio in the 1980s.
Editor’s Note: Do You Support Gingrich or Romney? Ron Paul? Vote in Urgen Poll — Click Here Now
“He was perhaps the premier defender of Ronald Reagan,” Limbaugh said.
On Thursday, Mike Reagan responded to the Gingrich critics with this statement to Newsmax:
“I am deeply disturbed that supporters of Mitt Romney are claiming that Newt Gingrich is not a true Reaganite and are even claiming that Newt was a strong critic of my father.
“Recently I endorsed Newt Gingrich for president because I believe that Newt is the only Republican candidate who has both consistently backed the conservative policies that my father championed and the only Republican that will continue to implement his vision.
“It surprises me that Mitt Romney and his supporters would raise this issue — when Mitt by his own admission voted for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale who opposed my father, and later supported liberal Democrat Paul Tsongas for president.
“As governor of Massachusetts, Romney’s achievement was the most socialistic healthcare plan in the nation up until that time.
“Say what you want about Newt Gingrich but when he was Speaker of the House he surrounded himself with Reagan conservatives and implemented a Ronald Reagan program of low taxes and restrained federal spending.
“Newt’s conservative program created a huge economic boom and balanced the budget for the first time in more than a generation.”
Mike Reagan concluded: “I would take Newt Gingrich’s record any day over Mitt Romney’s.”
Read more on Newsmax.com: Mike Reagan, Rush Limbaugh Blast Romney
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
Hits from Mitt
izoneguy (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 3:58PM EST (link)The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Romney just makes me sick
tyman Thursday, January 26th at 4:13PM EST (link)Independent during Reagan/Bush. I’m not sure such an animal existed.
If I hear one more person talk about how we need Willard because he’s a good businessman. Herbert Hoover was a businessman.
Does anyone want Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to be president? I sure don’t.
Between what Huckabee, McCain and Thompson said about Romney’s attacks in 2008 and this year, he has really messed up the race. I think if Romney wasn’t running, this would have truly been an issues related campaign for all of the candidates.
I’d like to know why Herman did what he did to Rick Perry, but my guess is that Romney was involved somehow to poison Cain against Perry.
If Willard is the nominee, I’m really going to have to hold my nose hard!
Reagan Conservatives are Fighting back......
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 4:03PM EST (link)And here is one……
““From the beginning of his political career, Gingrich was always at the ramparts as a staunch ally of the Reagan White House, from tax cuts to anti-communism to Federalism to pro-life and in all manner of great fights in that decade of Great Debates,” the Reagan Scholar at Eureka College wrote.
Read more on Newsmax.com: Reagan Author Shirley: Romney Attack of Gingrich Is ‘Preposterous’
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!”
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Shirley-Reagan-Romney-Gingrich/2012/01/26/id/425670
Facts are stubborn though
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 4:52PM EST (link)I remember pretty well Newt’s attacks on Reagan during the 80s – even calling his foreign policy a failure and comparing him to Chamberlain.
Even if I didn’t, the videos and the transcriptions are out there for anyone to see.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
hmmm, your memory....
david1313 Thursday, January 26th at 4:57PM EST (link)Seems like we have different memories of our friend Newt. To say Newt was not in Reagan’s corner is just dishonest. Did he always agree, no. At the time did anyone thing he was disloyal to the President. Hmmm, NO.
At the time, he'd even define himself as the champion of the Rockfeller wing
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 5:04PM EST (link)opposed to the conservative/Goldwater wing of the party.
Yeah, he wasn’t Tip O’Neil – sure, in that sense he was in Reagan’s corner, he was still a Republican and Reagan was Reagan.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
Agree....
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 4:59PM EST (link)So are the facts that he was the stauchest defender of Reagan….
So is the fact that Nancy Reagan said that Reagan passed the torch to Newt..
So is the fact that Romney ran away from Reagan Bush…
So is the fact that Romney foisted Romneycare on Mass
The point is that during that period of time, Newt probably wasn’t the only conservative who was against the idea of meeting with Gorbachev.
He wasn't the staunchest defender of Reagan
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 5:08PM EST (link)Not even close. He didn’t even had enough stature for that. I mean, it was Newt Gingrich. He was a guy who supported Rockfeller versus Goldwater. He was a republican, not a conservative. Why are you we re-writing story? People accused George HW Bush of being a moderate but Newt was clearly to his left.
Nancy said that in 1995, she was doing politics and rightly so. Newt was the Republican leader at the time and that was a nice thing to say. The only man Reagan himself passed the torch to was George Bush and he did it at the New Orleans convention.
I don’t remember Romney in the 80s at all so I won’t comment.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
Newt to the left of HW Bush?
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:22PM EST (link)I thought Newt took HW Bush to task for breaking his campaign promise….”Read my lips….No tax increase!”
That doesn’t sound like running on the left!!!!!
George H. W. Bush was the "Establishment" pick in 1980...
acat (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:26PM EST (link)Reagan picked him as a running mate to “seal the deal”.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Completely false
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 5:48PM EST (link)George HW Bush was nobody’s pick in 1980. It was Reagan – he was the overwhelming favorite and had all the endorsements. Heck, he even refused any primary debates (till he lost Iowa). Maybe if Ford had decided to run, he could have been the establishment pick. Reagan main opponents were Howard Baker and John Connolly (who had raised a ton of money and was thought to be strong in the South).
Bush was a former congressman from Texas (and fairly conservative, he had been an early Goldwater supporter in 1964 – unlike Newt. There were a couple of issues where he was more moderate, but it was stuff like birth control and such. His dad, Prescott Bush, was a true moderate Republican) who went to the CIA after an unsuccessful run for the Senate at the request of the party. He was fairly unknown and I doubt you can find and present us any evidence whatsoever that he had the support of the “establishment”. Who exactly was endorsing Bush? I can only think of James Baker, who was his friend from Texas and went to be Reagan’s Chief of Staff and then Secretary of Treasury. His campaign was basically like Santorum-s: lots of times in Iowa doing retail politics with little means.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
Bull to you!
bluerose75 Thursday, January 26th at 6:00PM EST (link)He was indeed the Establishment guy…Bush did not like Reagan in fact he called Reagan Economic plan Voodoo Economics!! He was party of the faithful elite to the Ford policies and people in power. Reagan was despised because of how he almost took down Ford in 76 at the Convention. For you to claim Reagan was the pick…who in the DC Establishment wanted Reagan…..name them?? Reagan went right to the voter not the Elites in Washington as he often referred. GHW Bush ran the CIA for who? Ford….US Ambassador to the UN for whom Ford??
Who are you kidding….you name one big DC person that pushed Reagan over Bush? Bush LOST the primaries and he could not compete with Reagan. Reagan himself not the DC crowd could compete with him. They had no choice. GHW Bush was indeed the Establishment guy. He was in Congress during Nixon Administration and spent his life in DC before losing the WH. He started back in the 60s. Reagan was not the choice….HE became the choice!!
Here's some hard data
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 6:24PM EST (link)Gallup polls:
Just because there’s the myth that Bush was the establishment candidate in 1980 is popular doesn’t make it true. He was as establishment as Santorum is now.
Reagan was the insurgent candidate in 1976 and obviously before. In 1980? Not so much. What’s next, he was also anti-establishment in 1984?
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
Umm, moodyboots? How is Santorum *not* establishment?
acat (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 8:13PM EST (link)Big-government? Check. (his voting record alone indicts him)
Been in D.C. for more than ten years? Check.
Get serious.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
You speak to a ghost (nt)
Neil Stevens (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 8:20PM EST (link).
RS contributing editor, technical administrator, and “a hardy variety of crabgrass.”
Read the RedState Posting Rules
Unlikely Voter: Poll Analysis, Election Projection.
“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
I am corrected. Thank you, Neil. Again.
acat (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 8:23PM EST (link)And also for taking out the trash.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Indeed GHW Bush was the Establishment Guy
bluerose75 Thursday, January 26th at 5:50PM EST (link)And if would have been the nominee imagine what our lives would have been like without Reagan. The same clueless plunders in DC are pushing Romney just like they pushed GHW Bush in 1980. Bush would have lost to Carter. Heck he only won on Reagan’s coattails. Reagan picked him to quiet the cry babies from the Establishment that had their butts handed to them in a ringer when Reagan cleaned their clocks!!
Imagine…just like now with Romney..if the Establishment would have won with Bush? Reagan is perhaps the greatest politician this country has seen. He is rated #3 behind Washington and Lincoln….anyone care to find GHW Bush in that ranking or Ford?
You have sheep like those supporting Romney on the way to slaughter. They are falling for the classic Establishment smoke and mirrors!! Many of them know in their hearts Romney is not conservative but they fear a man that can fight, hit back, not follow the crowd and stand on his own….Newt you think….no I mean Reagan!! History repeats itself over and over because of the weak and ignorant and the same Establishment record used for decades!
Newt has flaws but he can articulate and fight back and that is what the Establishment fears more than anything else…SOMEONE NOT BEHOLDEN TO THEM!!
Ignorance
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 5:57PM EST (link)Nobody in DC was pushing Bush in 1980. He came out of nowhere winning Iowa.
Geez, read a couple of books about Reagan and you’ll learn that.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
Read yourself know it all
bluerose75 Thursday, January 26th at 6:04PM EST (link)Bush had all the insiders in DC and read the books about Reagan who was the ultimate outsider. Do not lecture me about ignorance..get your own head out of the sand. Stick with your line. Anyone that who knows the truth knows GHW Bush was the Establishment pick…..not Reagan.
And Reagan was not favored by anyone in DC. The only reason he pciked Bush as VP was to placate the Establishment.
Again, ignorance
moodyboots Thursday, January 26th at 6:20PM EST (link)After Ford announced he wasn’t running, Reagan was so overwhelmingly favorite that his campaign managers decided they wouldn’t even campaign in Iowa and he didn’t agree to any debates.
If Bush had support of DC insiders, well, just name a few DC insiders who endorsed him..
He picked Bush because after the primary the party was divided and because Bush has become a popular politician after his good showing. Just like Ford had dropped Nelson Rockfeller four years before in favor of Bob
Dole.But since 1976 we had a solid control over the GOP establishment. Rockfeller republicans were the establishment in a few counties. The last link to the Rockefeller-Dewey era was Javits, but D’Amato took him down in 1980 too. Most the party leaders and elected officials in DC were solidly on Reagan’s camp.
I think a lot of folks get 1980 and 1976 confused.
I already got banned once for religious bigotry, then came back under an alias and a Portuguese proxy.
G'bye
Neil Stevens (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 6:49PM EST (link)You just can’t quit us, can you?
RS contributing editor, technical administrator, and “a hardy variety of crabgrass.”
Read the RedState Posting Rules
Unlikely Voter: Poll Analysis, Election Projection.
“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Yes indeed
andystone (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:00PM EST (link)Why disagree with Reagan on one issue out of many, when you can go the whole way and vote Carter and Mondale instead! The 80s record of Bishop Romney is truly a conservative dream, compared with that of Congressman Gingrich.Now what kind of dream, that’s up for discussion…
More from Rush on Newt and Reagan
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 4:35PM EST (link)“”It was everything you wish was happening today, is all I can tell you. It was everything you wish the entire Republican Party was doing today. It was led by Newt Gingrich, and what was he doing? He was defending Reagan.
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/limbaugh-gingrich-reagan-defender/2012/01/26/id/425674
Romney displaying his leftist roots again..
texastaxpayer (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:12PM EST (link)As Michael Reagan said:
” “It surprises me that Mitt Romney and his supporters would raise this issue — when Mitt by his own admission voted for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale who opposed my father, and later supported liberal Democrat Paul Tsongas for president.“
Romney like Obama can’t run on his failed record so he is left with smears and lies as his only chance to trick enough voters into supporting him. We have seen this little routine of his before with Huckabee, Mccain and most recently Rick Perry. I hope that enough people will investigating these lies of his and see Romney for the what he truly is. A weak, pathetic little lefty who will do and say anything to achieve his ends. Wake up people Romney is not one of us, he is a democrat as demonstrated by his character.
Obomney indeed…….
“Texas will again lift it’s head and stand among the nations. It ought to do so, for no country upon the globe can compare with it in natural advantages.” Sam Houston
I am wide awake....
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:21PM EST (link)and I am voting for Newt all the way!!!!!
Go Newt Go!
Roots?
neilmacarthur Thursday, January 26th at 5:59PM EST (link)I don’t know if has any roots. This is the same man who just yesterday said he wish he could tell people in Florida that he was half-Mexican. He’ll say anything or do anything to become President. It’s not about politics, all he wants to do is fulfill a legacy that his father failed to create.
And one day, when genetic engineering is advanced enough
andystone (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 6:04PM EST (link)Romney will be half-Mexican whenever he needs to!
Interesting discussion here....
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:19PM EST (link)So Romney and his ilk are trying to smear Newt as being anti-Reagan…..which means they are really scared of Reagan Conservatism…which means Reagan Conservatism is everything they are NOT!
Good! Point taken! Next!
Attacking your opponents strength basically.
neilmacarthur Thursday, January 26th at 6:01PM EST (link)Just sad coming from a man who declared he “wasn’t trying to return to Reagan.”
Video showing Newt Dissing on Reagan was Bogus....
WillWong (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 5:45PM EST (link)This is really starting to piss me off…..Newt’ s video was purposely cut to removed his rationale for HW Bush making slight changes to his platform moving forward…..
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Video supposedly showing Newt Gingrich bashing Reaganism just at the end of Ronald Reagan’s presidency was edited to put the then-up-an-coming congressman in a bad light, it has turned out.
The C-SPAN video, titled “Newt Gingrich bad-mouths Ronald Reagan in 1998” on YouTube, was part of a huge coordinated campaign against Gingrich that was launched on Thursday, five days ahead of the vital Florida primary.
But it cuts off before Gingrich explains what he means.
In the portion shown on YouTube, Gingrich talks about the Republican Party’s chances after Reagan leaves office. “On Election Day, the American people, given a choice of more of eight years or something new, will vote for something new,” he said.
But what the clip does not show is Gingrich’s rationale behind his statement, which shows he was not bashing Reaganism, but merely suggesting that then-Vice President George Bush needed to take it forward.
The entire clip, which was discovered by the website RiehlWorldView, shows Gingrich going on to say he wanted “A Republicanism of the ’90s that builds on Reaganism, but goes beyond Reaganism.”
He continues, “This is the country where ‘new’ and ‘improved’ are the two most powerful words in advertising,” and says if the two candidates in the 1988 election had similar stances and were equally “pleasant” the Democrat would win simply because it would signify change.
That is why, Gingrich said, Bush needed to change direction slightly with what he said should be “broadly a center-right platform.”
“Reaganism, after all, is a values system which carried 49 states last time, fairly inclusive, I would suggest,” Gingrich continued. “It is more than just a personality issue as the vice president proved in his commitment to no tax increase which was the decisive issue for him in New Hampshire.”
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/GingrichvideoC-SPANReaganism/2012/01/26/id/425683
Romney is a lighter version of Obama!
krish (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 6:16PM EST (link)If you thought Obama has to attack others so that people do not ask about his dismal record, guess what, Romney is the same!
Romney does not want anybody to start talking about his liberal record in MA – so the attack continues! He did the same thing in 2008 but Huckabee teamed up with McCain to stop MA liberal. Hope, Santorum will withdraw from the race & endorse Newt! We need to stop this guy! If he is the nominee, it will a big blow to the party…Liberatarian candidate will look really good at that point!
Before, all of you start getting angry with me, please take a look at Romney’s record (had to endure this fraud in MA) & most of you will agree with me!
Hope that the good people of Florida will send a strong message similar to one that South Carolina people did! I am worried that there are many RINOs from East Coast who moved to Florida who might screw up the primary.
Hey.... That's a little insulting to Obama isn't it!!!!!
texastaxpayer (Diary) Friday, January 27th at 6:37PM EST (link)“Texas will again lift it’s head and stand among the nations. It ought to do so, for no country upon the globe can compare with it in natural advantages.” Sam Houston
Romney is a lighter version of Obama!
krish (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 6:16PM EST (link)If you thought Obama has to attack others so that people do not ask about his dismal record, guess what, Romney is the same!
Romney does not want anybody to start talking about his liberal record in MA – so the attack continues! He did the same thing in 2008 but Huckabee teamed up with McCain to stop MA liberal. Hope, Santorum will withdraw from the race & endorse Newt! We need to stop this guy! If he is the nominee, it will a big blow to the party…Liberatarian candidate will look really good at that point!
Before, all of you start getting angry with me, please take a look at Romney’s record (had to endure this fraud in MA) & most of you will agree with me!
Hope that the good people of Florida will send a strong message similar to one that South Carolina people did! I am worried that there are many RINOs from East Coast who moved to Florida who might screw up the primary.
Agree,,,but I have a different take
10thamend (Diary) Thursday, January 26th at 6:50PM EST (link)See my ‘The Dump Job’ post this evening
10thamend (anybody remember that one?)
The elephant in the room, Gingrich/Santorum combined support beats Romney
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, January 27th at 6:42PM EST (link)Now its time for Santorum to do the right thing, as Perry graciously did for country, step down and support Gingrich.
Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
Notice the media is largely void of the term "anti-Romney" now?
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, January 27th at 6:43PM EST (link)They do not want to give any ideas or any credence to Romney being beat.
Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
"Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left"
deVere Friday, January 27th at 7:13PM EST (link)Sarah Palin weighs in:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/cannibals-in-gop-establishment-employ-tactics-of-the-left/10150516734848435
Polls from Florida today.. about a dead heat BUT..
snowshooze (Diary) Friday, January 27th at 7:16PM EST (link)Florida Republican Presidential Primary Sunshine State News/VSS
Romney 40, Gingrich 31, Santorum 12, Paul 9 Romney +9
Florida Republican Presidential Primary Quinnipiac Romney 38,
Gingrich 29, Santorum 12, Paul 14 Romney +9
Michigan Republican Presidential Primary EPIC-MRA Romney 31, Gingrich 26, Paul 14, Santorum 10 Romney +5
2012 Republican Presidential Nomination NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl Gingrich 37, Romney 28, Santorum 18, Paul 12, Perry Gingrich +9
2012 Republican Presidential Nomination Gallup Tracking Gingrich 32, Romney 24, Santorum 13, Paul 14, Perry Gingrich +8
The last two sources being better known to me are in Gingrich’s favor.
I know… polls are polls, you get out what you put in.
These polls released today.
So maybe Gingrich didn’t take the hit I feared.
Meanwhile, Romney not yet talked about his $$ in Caymen accounts.
avagreen Friday, January 27th at 7:21PM EST (link)http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-parks-millions-offshore-tax-haven/story?id=15378566#.TyM-kPmsaSr
Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate.
“His personal finances are a poster child of what’s wrong with the American tax system,” said Jack Blum, a Washington lawyer who is an authority on tax enforcement and offshore banking. …
From ABC, no less.
The hacking commences from the left on the “supposed” GOP candidate?
(Does FOX know this *furtively looking right and left*?)
Rick Perry STILL! doesn’t have or need blood. He is filled with magma.
Rick Perry uses his bare hands to hunt.
Countdown Until Obama Leaves Office.