Newt Gingrich’s Tea Party Problem

[pampango]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/164964/newt-gingrichs-tea-party-problem

Newt Gingrich is trying to win over the Tea Party. Unlike Mitt Romney, who—being despised by many Tea Party activists and leaders—generally avoids encounters with them, Gingrich sees the Tea Party movement as a potential part of his primary coalition. His campaign manager for South Carolina, Adam Waldeck, has worked heavily on Tea Party outreach in other states, spreading Gingrich’s message to Tea Party leaders and inviting them to share their concerns and ideas.

But how does the Tea Party feel about Gingrich? Decidedly mixed.

Tea Party leaders in the crucial state of Iowa say Gingrich’s campaign has done effective outreach and has a chance at winning over their support, but his record gives them pause. “His immigration stance has been something that’s not a very popular stance here,” says Ryan Rhodes, a state coordinator of the Iowa Tea Party. “A lot of people agree there needs to be a thoughtful process, but for a conservative that doesn’t start with using a liberal argument, the ‘humane’ argument. People remember the couch with Pelosi.

But in New Hampshire the Tea Party seems to have much colder feelings towards Gingrich. “Most of us can’t figure out why anyone would think Newt is the alternative to Romney,” says Jane Aitken, coordinator for the New Hampshire Tea Party coalition. “He is as much, if not more of a flip-flopper, as Romney. That is not to say that there aren’t some people who consider themselves ‘tea party’ who support Newt but I just haven’t seen a lot of support for him in our ranks of group leaders.”

[Ship of Fools]

1. I guess the word *humane* isn't in the Republicon dictionary.

[ellenfl]

4. that statement was a pretty amazing confession. eom

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Hmm. There is no Tea Party.

there are a few, very few, collections of angry, unread, conservative christians who were tempted by the likes of Rush and Glenn and Sarah and Michelle. Between timing and a confluence of other issues, (effluence?) they did take several offices in the house, and scared the crap out of the GOP in the senate. Between a few loud demanding tea baggers on one side, and Grover Nordquist on the other, today's GOP has lost its soul and its ability to act rationally.

As for a voting bloc, the Tea baggers are a spent force, a shadow of their initial funny-hatted, mis-spelled sign bearing, white, aged, retired christian self. They will have no impact on the 2012 election simply because their numbers were horribly inflated by Koch & Co, and their impact was made huge by an obedient and compliant MSM (which never bothers to dig for the truth these days).

I repeat, there is no Tea party. Not one we have to worry about, at least. Their self-promoting "leaders"? little more than self aggrandizing mopes. All they need is the proper uniforms, medals, and insignia, and they would have been superbly comfortable in the early 1940s

[atreides1]

3. Gingrich sees the Tea Party movement as a potential part of his primary coalition.

The same way Hitler saw the potential with the SA(Brown Shirts), and we all know what happened to them when their usefulness was at an end!