Gingrich hits the panic button

Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:17 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Congress, Republicans

From NBC's Mark Murray
Former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich sounds the alarm after Republicans lost a second-straight special election in a GOP-held seat. "The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November."

"The facts are clear and compelling. Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975. This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004."

"No Republicans should kid themselves. It's time to face up to a stark choice. Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall. Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994... It's time for real change to avoid a real disaster."

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Comments

Yes making English the official language of government would really address most of America's problems.

AJ, New York (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:26 PM)

The GOP is going to continue to lose seats this cycle, because people want change. Change does not come from the GOP, so it stands to reason that more and more seats will shift sides this election year. I for one and very glad to see it.

http://www.politivine.com

Politivine(SC) (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:29 PM)

Apparently tying a candidate to Obama makes them veerrry electable!

Blue collar doesn't mean stupid! (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:30 PM)

Gingrich offers some suggestions for the GOP leadership -- like repealing the gas tax and paying for it by cutting discretionary spending; overhauling the Census Bureau (?); establishing a one-year moratorium on earmarks; and making English the official language of the US government -- and he concludes:

"No Republicans should kid themselves. It's time to face up to a stark choice. Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall. Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994... It's time for real change to avoid a real disaster."

------------------------------------------------

Uh...yeah, Newt, that oughta work like a charm!

Pete - Albany, NY (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:30 PM)

part of the "panic botton" strategy is to focus on divisive subjects, as good repub's do...like a 'universal language'...yea, i can't wait for that

sean, atl, ga (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:31 PM)

I also find it odd that what they need to do (change) is right in front of them, yet they won't commit to it. That is very typical of the GOP and the reason why they will lose seats in this election cycle.

It is time for America to stand up and be heard and I think it is happening in this election.

http://www.politivine.com

Politivine(SC) (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:31 PM)

Gingrich should be giving the Republicans only one piece of important advice. To be ready to work closely with and in full cooperation with Barack Obama, the next President of the United States. All else should then fall into place. Now is that not easier to remember instead of a long winded list of steps that Gingrich is proposing.

C A, Tuscaloosa, AL (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:31 PM)

"making English the official language of the US government"

Please try it. McCain's hispanic support in NM, CO, and NV would dry up in a heart beat putting those states in play.

BL, Cincinnati OH (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:32 PM)

Good! It's about time!

nikita (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:32 PM)

Maybe the problems are a result of your "good" judgement in choosing our current president.

Terry, IN (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:33 PM)

Vote for the other Democrat: John McCain 2008

J.McCain / C.Powell 2008

Vote for the Center, not the edges. (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:33 PM)

and, of course, insisting that gays and liberal elites should by shipped off in rail cars for resettlement.

Ian (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:33 PM)

Who's Newt trying to kid? He's the philandering liar that dumped his second wife like a bad habit to marry his gold digging aide he was cheating with, all the while berating Bill about his affair. Yeah like this clown of dishonesty has anything smart to say.

Go Obama!

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:34 PM)

Well, there is one way to reverse the tide and have big Republican gains in Congress. All we have to do is let Hillary steal the nomination from the rightful winner, and elect her in November. Then, the Republicans will enjoy a huge turnaround in 2010. Does everyone remember the 1994 midterm elections? Only Hillary Clinton could have done for the Republicans, what they could not do for themselves for over 40 years.

Obama in 2008. Integrity matters and the Clintons have none. It's 3AM and Hillary's phone rings. It's President Obama. He wants to know where the White House furniture is.

Sick of corruption, sick of the Clintons (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:37 PM)

The real wake up call, if they care to hear it, is that Karma is a B**** and the republican seats are up for grabs because they thought it was better to be politically right, than morally and ethically right in the war for Oil, er, I mean the war for a democratic Iraq.

Josh, Bremerton WA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:38 PM)

Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election - it's too late for all that Newt. The GOP is going to reap the consequences of failing their constituencies since the mid-1990s.

The bell is tolling.

http://thepajamapundit.com/

the Pajama Pundit (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:38 PM)

"Change does not come from the GOP"

What I like about this quote is that it is demonstrably true.

The GOP is fundamentally based on the notion that change is bad, that the way things were will always be better than the way things could possibly be. And that's not a criticism so much as it is factual.

It's why I'm confused by people who vote for GOP candidates. We can't move forward if we're clinging to the past. And we can't move backwards because time doesn't work that way.

Reality does, in fact, have a liberal bias.

Jay, Indiana (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:38 PM)

If Mark Foley and Randy Craig are any example, "change" has already come to the GOP, they just need to come out.
Look, if you don't mind that Hastert , Boehner and McConnell covered up for and protected a pedophile who prayed on congressional pages, vote GOP.

Erik Rudolph, GOP booster (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:38 PM)

I think it is time for all spanish speaking people to think about this. The republicans dont want you just like they dont really want other people of color. It is time that you guys that speak spanish go to the John McCain website that is spanish only and ask him about this and other things that he and his party stand for and against. If enough of you do this it will let them know that this politics of fear is useless from now on.

No Mas Division Of The Human Raza (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:39 PM)

Gingrich....you are no longer relevant...and your rediculous fascist far right wing comments prove it.

Pat Huntington NY (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:39 PM)

How is making English the official language of the US 'real change'?

Like Hillary, the repubs would'nt know real change if it was shouted down from the heavens.

Hmm Hmmm? So it has.

twin (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:40 PM)

Stiff necked repubs,

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Giddy Dem (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:41 PM)

It's too late, the damage is done. Republicans will be swept up in the Obama express this November.

Ron Jeffers, Arizona Independent (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:41 PM)

I wonder why he didn't suggest that a lot of it may have to do with the fact that the Republican Congress supported Bush, Cheny and his administration in absolutely everything they did, whether legal or not? They even helped him bankrup this country, go to war for a bunch of lies, keep us in that war, allow torture, allow spying on Americans, do away with Habeas Corpus, etc. etc. I hope the first thing Obama does is bring Habeas Corpus. What scares me is that once we lose a freedom, it's usually very difficult to get it back.

New Independent (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:42 PM)

Ah, Newt Gingrich to the rescue again. I've said often how that pesky Census Bureau will be the ruin of us all. Could that be an immigration end run?

Memo to Newt: You have a president who lies to the American people, set a record level of debt and much of it with China - ooh, if they call in the markers, what then? Could that be the lack of interest in Tibet by our government?

Let me see, the Vice President when told the American people are against this war said, "Who cares?" Obviously not this administration.

So there's your starting point, Newt. Even diehard Republicans who think gay marriage will be the ruin of everything, have begun wondering why the price of oil has quadrupled when we went to war to secure more of it.

This Administration is defined by its colossal incompetence and moral arrogance. That's why you're losing seats. Because the Republican members of congress rubber stamped it all and even in the face of complete disaster continue to do so.

Better put: You ain't seen nothin' yet.

KH, HI (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:42 PM)

Gingrich,

Your chickens have come home to....., peck yours, and Rushes buns bloody!!

Peck On Chix (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:43 PM)

Too late Newt, the tide has turned, your wedge politics will now fail. Loser.

JohnnyU, WA State (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:43 PM)

Gingrich suggestions are weak as all get out.

- repealing gas tax... dumb.
- Cutting discretionary spending... like what? Head Start, Health Care, what?
- The Census Bureau... why, so we can count only Republicans??? that is just weird.
- Establishing a one-year moratorium on earmarks, really, after the Republicans spend us into the ground!
- Making English the official language of the US, Pandering alert... does nothing to help anyone

That all sounds like more of the same. Weak!

James, Wichita, KS (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:44 PM)

Vote for the center you have lost your mind. McSame is tied to the hip of Bush.I really dont think that Powell is that fond of McSame either. As a matter of fact he has all but endorsed Obama. I think that you are dreaming to even think that he would run with him. The next anti- Obama dream ticket since the Chuckie Doll Rice one didn't work .

Vote to the Center has Lost their Mind (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:44 PM)

No way would Colin Powell be willing to hook up with McCain. His experience with the other Bush soured him on that idea. He has integrity.

TLA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:44 PM)

Newt Gingrinch threw his lesbian sister under the bus, and runs her over with it every time he speaks and says stuff like this. He's discpicable! I hate you Gingrinch!

Pat Huntington NY (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:44 PM)

If Obama wins both primaries tonight (not saying that he will), will Clinton stand by her quote that a "win is a win"? Or does the matrix change again?

Anthony, Atlanta GA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:45 PM)

HEEEEERE chicky chicky chicky!!! Chicken Hawks, meet your destiny!

ET (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:45 PM)

and, of course, insisting that gays and liberal elites should by shipped off in rail cars for resettlement.
Ian (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:33 PM)

-----------
I don't think he and the repukes would be that kind...rather than resettlement, they would be sent to the showers with no water...

pat huntington ny (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:45 PM)

It is Clear to me that the republican well of ideas has run dry.

Dave, Kingwood, Texas (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:46 PM)

Yes, let the oil companies continue to rape our wallets, the environment, and take us to war...but claim the solution is to reduce the taxes association with their product so we don't think it is so bad.

Why not just reduce the taxes on cigarettes so people can get more cancer?

http://infogiant.wordpress.com/

infogiant, austin, tx (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:47 PM)

Sorry, to me GOP stands for GREEDY OLD PIGS. It's nothing but a "Good Ole Boy" club. You kiss my a** and I'll kiss yours. I was raised Republican but have voted Democrat since Jimmy Carter.
Incidentally, I'm a rural, older, white, woman, blue collar working class and I support Obama

Bonnie (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:47 PM)

Get out the vote, baby...look out Down ballot Republicans...all the Dems coming out is having an effect.

(and I responded to you below Robin, your nice kind comments, it might not get posted though as it was a little late, by all means you won't need to kick me out of the Dem. party if Clinton gets the nod, I will leave on my own, and if you think I'm a pariah, then I can live with that. I assure you I won't lose any sleep over it. I'm an informed voter electing someone highly principled before I'm a Democrat. I'm happy to join the legions of Americans who have gone independent and who vote along issues and character and not party lines. But I said it better below so hope that one gets posted LOL. Oh, and Lisa is my real name and I post my real city too. I don't hide behind a false identity anywhere.)

Lisa in New Britain, CT A to Z, absolutely for Obama! (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:48 PM)

Maybe he has changed somewhat from his Speaker days, but the new Newt is more palatable than before. I don't agree with all of his proposals as a Democrat, but I see the beginning of a GOP that will work more closely with an Obama presidency, or at least not try the typical stonewalling party tactics we see now. The new Newt is someone from the GOP I could work with now.

Pete, Dallas TX (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:48 PM)

Not sure if Newt's anaysis is correct; but what did the Repulicans think was going to happen after 8 years of George W. Bush.
Iraq, recession, gas prices, "Brownie", Alberto Gonzales,Katrina, house prices, sub prime mess, tax breaks for the rich, Harriet Miers, abuse of executive privilege, Tom Foley, Robert Craig, Terry Schiavo, not working with the opppostion,Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Blackwater, no bid contracts, Abu Gharib, US Attorney firings, Donald Rumsfeld , Dubai Ports deal, Pat Tillman coverup, rendition, Iraq is seeking yellow cake in Niger, torture is acceptable, signing statements, spying on Americans, "bring it on", " last throes', "when they stand up, we'll stand down", "stay the course", "evil doers", " cut and run","swift boating", "axis of evil", "defeat-o-crats", "mission accomplished", "greeted as liberators"..... The president earned that 29% approval rating, and now the Republicans are going to " pay the piper"!

Marc, Chappaqua, New York (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:49 PM)

Oh, and he forgot, criminalize ALL abortions...make it a capital crime against the mother!

Pat Huntington NY (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:55 PM)

It's all about winning elections with these guys, never mind "hey guys the country is being bled dry by a pointless war and global warming bodes ill for our children's futute. What are we going to do?" Nope, its what divisive issue can we dream up to distract the voters into voting for our team...American politics is so depressing.

Amy B Portland, ME (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:59 PM)

don't worry...they will trot out the tried and true red meat repugnant issues...god, gays and abortion

the repugnants have nothing left in the tank...they've bled the treasury empty, run up the taxpayer credit card to the max, tortured a few people, tossed some more out of their homes, spied on everyone

rick, nc (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:00 PM)

Bravo, Newt! If repealing the gas tax, overhauling the Census Bureau, and making English the official language of the US represents real change for the GOP, then I think you've just made an absolute fool of yourself with at least 70% of the American public. You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. It's about time the American public took back our government from the GOP stronghold and corporate interests. Go, Obama!!!

Diane, Grand Blanc, MI (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:01 PM)

Jay,

Philosophically there is so much wrong with your assessment. First and foremost, the GOP is not against change, but against change for the sake of change. Secondly, some things should not be changed as they already fall in line with ethical absolutes, which, I might add, most liberals do not believe in. Some things should change and some things shouldn't. If you vote based on change for change's sake, then you will only further debilitate this nation the way the Bush administration has (remember who the "change" candidate was in 2000?).

Oh, and time itself only has a liberal bias if your other statements are true, which they most certainly are not.

That said, Gingrich isn't giving meaningful solutions with what he had to say, but at least he's putting something out there rather than merely bashing everyone else's solutions ala Barack Obama.

Gabriel Syme (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:07 PM)

NO body cares about the GOP has to say..Their words will fall to deaf ears...the American people are tired of the Republican party...they should just desolve themselves now ....this current administratiion has ruined them forever .Theirs days are numbered and there is nothing they can say or do....Barack Obama will be the President and the past Administration will get theirs as well. :)

WW,Philly,PA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:10 PM)

What's that Newt? It's time for change you say? I couldn't agree more!

Obama '08/'12

Nashville_fan (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:17 PM)

"...It's time for real change to avoid a real disaster."

See, that's the thing, Newt. Most people don't think it would be a disaster if Republicans were the minority.

CitizenJ (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:19 PM)

WHAT GOES AROUND,COMES AROUND. No matter how bad it gets, rest assured someday it will come full circle.

Pacheck, Huntington Beach, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:19 PM)

You gotta love when Newtie gets desperate.
Mcan'tski wants more votes so he says he will push for more conservative judges, gee we need more
'do nothing, turn the clock back' judges.
Georgie boy hides from all of his mistakes, Cheney reeks of hate and anger, Condi plays 'dress up' with the israelis while ignoring the rest of the middle east and this is all okay with Newt.
Ameicans are suffering because there is no official language, the census bureau numbers are messing with their lives.
Newt, it is time for real disaster for your party, it is the only way you and your kind will ever change.
Goodbye boys, you deserve oblivion, it suits your book of revelation constituency.
Dems are real change after these last few years of head in the sand governence. SEE YA IN 40 YEARS!

John Alexander,PA (Sent Tuesday, May 06, 2008 4:22 PM)

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