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Newt Gingrich: ‘I was wrong, tea party faction was right’

11:26 am January 31, 2010, by jgalloway

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich on Saturday conceded that he was wrong to endorse Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in last November’s special congressional election in New York’s 23rd District.

And the GOP’s tea party faction was right.

Gingrich’s remarks came during an interview with WNTK radio in New Hampshire that will be broadcast Monday. The political blog New Hampshire Watchdog posted this sound clip on YouTube:

Said Gingrich:

“They were right. At the time, as a party builder and someone who has always been trying to help build the party, it struck me that she was the local nominee. She turned out to be a huge disappointment. And she turned out not to be frankly a loyal Republican.”

“And I think that those folks have the better of that argument.

“It’s very important, though, not to get into a business where if you’re not exactly perfect, I can’t be for you. Scott Brown has been an enormously important victory, but the fact is Scott Brown, on many issues, would not meet a 100 percent purity test. But his victory was stunningly important for all of us.”

“In the case of Scozzafava, she is an enormous disappointment. She had some positions that were far more radical than I realized at the time. And I think in retrospect, it was probably a mistake.”

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71 comments Add your comment

ManiacPolitician

February 1st, 2010
3:58 am

irishmafia you are so out of touch or dumb I don’t know where to start. First there is a known history of discrimination in the US which is why black colleges were started. Remember Jim Crow and segregation, then you had the Miss America contest where blacks were excluded. Then you had newspapers not publishing correct information of blacks which is why there are black magazines and newspapers. My father came home during WWII as a war hero and veteran and had a seperate parade because of discrimination. Next my grandmother is buried in a segregated cemetery because of segregation. I would imagine the Latin awards are base on historical discrimination also.

Black people did not create this mess, radical whites did. Now let all remember the Republican party is the original party of enslaved people of color. And I agree with Senator Brown’s ideology about abortion and the fed should not fund it but a woman has the right to chose. I will let God make the decision whether all involved lives a eternal life in the presence of God because of their choice to deny the infant their right to life, liberty and property.

Bitter EX democrackkk

February 1st, 2010
6:43 am

until the republicannots wake up and listen to the wisdom of Ron Paul, NONE of them offers anthing worthwhile as Ron Paul does…Newt and Mitt and Palin, etc…they still dont get it!

http://www.CampaignforLiberty.com

Ron Paul 2012!

Bitter EX democrackkk

February 1st, 2010
6:48 am

duh…(Glenn Beck did NOT start the Tea Party Movement!)

many of you have ignorance that purely GLOWS! how did you get to be so stupid?

Randy

February 1st, 2010
7:39 am

DannyX=Idiot. Enough said.

dan deacon

February 1st, 2010
7:51 am

NEWT…..N..eed E..verybody W..orking T..ogether……Now there’s a great campaign slogan…
NEWT FOR PRESIDENT!!

FUN GUY

February 1st, 2010
8:26 am

Subject: Clunker Math and Obamacare

The math sounds right to me. You could say it recognizes first
year only, but even so makes a point: many of those cars would have been
off the road over time through natural attritation.

I’d like to share the following with you:

Clunker Math:
A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800
gallons of gas a year.
A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480
Gallons a year.
So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US
gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
They claim 700,000 vehicles so that’s 224 million gallons saved
per year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.
5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption.
More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel
costs about $350 million dollars
So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save
$350 million.
We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.
I’m pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care,
though.

Tishers

February 1st, 2010
8:31 am

Screw their stupid purity tests. Are the political parties only going to be about putting drones into office? I want someone who can think about all aspects of an issue and make up THEIR OWN mind.

Bob

February 1st, 2010
8:47 am

Dannyx and his felcher buddies have no clue.

Diogenes

February 1st, 2010
9:20 am

Personally, I am skeptical as to what Brown really believes regarding health care reform.

Remember people, he is from Massachusetts…they already have universal health coverage in that state and it was a proposal that Senator-elect Brown supported as it went through the state legislative process.

What I am getting at here is that Brown, and many people in Mass., are concerned about what implications this federal healthcare overhaul has for his state’s universal health coverage policies. By and large, the federal plan is modeled after the Massachusetts plan. It works in Massachusetts. There are mandates, people and businesses are penalized for not living up to their end of the deal, it is the most educated and one of the wealthiest states in the union…still.

Furthermore, leave it to Newt to defend a guy running for Congress in a district that he doesn’t even live in.

Georgia Whig Party member

February 1st, 2010
10:18 am

Diogenes, from what I understand its because Mass. already has universal healthcare that it is so unpopular. They would have to either pay more taxes for nothing, or abandon their state plan for the national one. They are worried the national plan threatens their state plan. Especially since their state plan is also partically paid for with a federal grant.

As for “Furthermore, leave it to Newt to defend a guy running for Congress in a district that he doesn’t even live in.”

-Amen. We need to worry about our own representitives not other peoples. Newt sees himself as a “party builder” and honestly gives a crap about republic ideals like “regional representitive legislators.” All those philosophies of our founders really just get in the way of “ideology manangemnt”.

DannyX

February 1st, 2010
10:26 am

From today’s Gallup poll.

“Overall, 49% of Americans in 2009 identified as Democrats or said they were independent but leaned to the Democratic Party, while 41% identified as Republicans or were Republican-leaning independents. That 8-point Democratic advantage compares to a 12-point, 52% to 40%, Democratic advantage in 2008.”

That’s it? A measly 4 point bump? This is what Republicans are taking to the bank? How on earth do Republicans take back the government with numbers like that? Especially after being schooled by Obama on the issues.

Is the strategy for Republicans to stay the course by producing pro-abortion, RomneyObamaCare yes voting, pro Mass marriage law, candidates? A candidate who went out of his way to say he will not vote lock step with Republicans?

Nope, the Tea baggers don’t have the “Senator Lipton” they thought they had in Brown.

Do the Republicans keep trying to entice more liberals like Republican Senator elect Brown to run for office as Republicans?? That strategy paid off big in Massachusetts.

Lol at Republican control of anything but the backwards Georgia statehouse.

Georgia Whig Party member

February 1st, 2010
10:41 am

DannyX, I think it has more to do with momentum then current statistics. In the right vs Left debate there seems to be a 6-8 year cycle of realignment, and having weathered the realignment from 2004-2008 for the first time the right is preparing for growth again. Which ever side is in power is the side losing momentum, which is an odd anomoly but one that exists as a safe guard from giving either side too much power for too long to screw things up even more. Its the only way the voters can keep everything from crashing down, just keep turning over the soil hoping the weeds don’t get too big. And seriously Mass. replaced TED KENNEDY with a republican….that is huge even if he isn’t a bleed red republican.

Gee, Y’Think?? , An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings

February 1st, 2010
10:51 am

[...] Source. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! [...]

DannyX

February 1st, 2010
10:53 am

Georgia Whig, you make some excellent points. Election cycles are extremely important.

Which is part of my point. What we are seeing so far is the normal drift. If Obama gets back on course Republicans will not make huge gains.

In the mean time the Tea Party seems to want to claim Brown as theirs only when it is convenient.

Do Republicans ignore the bigger fact that their own party does better when their extreme element is tamed. That same poll showed virtually no change in the Red state Blue state battle. Do Republicans moderate their views using Brown as their model or do they throw him out when they are done with him?

DannyX

February 1st, 2010
11:11 am

Lets see…….

The Tea Party lost in NY. Then the Liberal Republican won in Massachusetts.

Hmmmmmm

Georgia Whig Party member

February 1st, 2010
11:24 am

Good points. The same can be said for the democrats. “If obama gets back on course” I would argue would be to appeal once more to the moderates as well. But its typical the year after an election to let true colors show, and then tame themselves back towards moderation in an election year (this year). It will be interesting to see if the dems, reps, or obama (I seperate Obama from his partys popularity) tame themselves or use extremism. Just cause its politically correct doesnt mean they always do it. Pride gets in the way a lot.

Brad

February 1st, 2010
1:44 pm

“They claim 700,000 vehicles so that’s 224 million gallons saved
per year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.” -FUN GUY

You just equated crude oil with refined gasoline. The ratio of oil to gasoline can be as little as 5%, while your numbers assume 93.75% efficiency. Typical Republican math skills, idiot.

Jeff McQueen

February 1st, 2010
3:48 pm

Newt needs some work.

Robbie DeMars

February 2nd, 2010
10:06 am

The perfect Republican ticket is Allen Keyss for Pres with Col. Oliver North as VP. It couldn’t get any better.

The Suffolk County 912 Blog

February 2nd, 2010
1:42 pm

[...] Posted By: Kevin Filed in: DailyFellow Republicans Altschuler, LaValle at odd   (newsday.com) Newt Gingrich: ‘I was wrong, tea party faction was right’   (blogs.ajc.com) Republicans woo ‘tea party’ members, but face activists’ [...]

DW

February 2nd, 2010
1:55 pm

Newt, you’re an obsequious, flip-flopping coward. Please do us a favor and announce now that you’re not running for President. Ever.

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