Archive for the ‘gingrich’ tag
Gingrich says space exploration in US tradition (The Arizona Republic)
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192631859?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Debates have major impact on GOP presidential race (AP)
NEW YORK ? The Republican presidential debates have served up riveting television and exposed the contenders’ strengths and weaknesses, with no one benefiting more than Newt Gingrich. His in-your-face style has excited GOP voters who want a scrappy fighter to take on President Barack Obama in the fall.
At the same time, no one has found himself more boxed in by the format than Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor’s cautious but generally mistake-free performances earlier in the contest were seen as evidence of his resilience. But that steadiness recently has given way to a string of awkward gaffes and unforced errors, mostly surrounding his income taxes and the vast wealth he earned running a venture capital firm.
Gingrich, Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were set to square off twice this week before Florida Republicans have their say in the primary Jan. 31. Debates were scheduled for Monday night in Tampa, and Thursday night in Jacksonville.
Romney’s advisers at one point signaled that he might skip both Florida debates. His campaign has recruited Brett O’Donnell, a former debate coach to 2008 Republican nominee John McCain, to help him prepare. Since losing South Carolina’s primary to Gingrich on Saturday, Romney has ratcheted up his criticism of Gingrich, all but promising feistier debate performances from him this week.
The debates ? 17 so far ? have offered political junkies a dose of “must-see” TV and exposed the candidates’ warts and all.
Ask Herman Cain, a former pizza executive with no political experience who bounced briefly to the top of the field after several witty and memorable debate performances. Or Rick Perry, who saw his once promising candidacy unravel on stage as he stammered to recall the third of three federal agencies he’d eliminate and ended with a memorable “oops.”
The debates also have influenced media coverage of the race. An analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism found that the tone of coverage of a candidate almost directly corresponded with the assessment of their debate performances. The center also studied Twitter postings around the debates, and found an extraordinary amount of instant debate commentary reverberating through that platform.
The debates have cast a particularly sharp focus on the Republican field, in part because there is no primary on the Democratic side. In the 2008 presidential race, there were 26 debates in which Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and other candidates mixed it up in memorable fashion.
The debates have been particularly important to residents of early voting states, which saw a flood of TV advertising from the campaigns and independent groups but much less face-to-face campaigning from candidates than in years past.
Data bears that out.
In New Hampshire, which held the nation’s first primary Jan. 10, 84 percent of those surveyed said the debates were important to their vote, according to exit polls sponsored by The Associated Press and the broadcast networks.
In South Carolina, 65 percent said the debates were important in determining their vote. Among the most conservative voters, including evangelical Christians and tea party backers, the figure was closer to 70 percent.
That group of voters backed Gingrich in Saturday’s primary in the strongest numbers, in part because of two memorable debate exchanges.
At a CNN debate last Thursday in Charleston, moderator John King asked Gingrich to comment on an interview his former wife had given to ABC News alleging that he had asked her for an open marriage. Gingrich let loose, channeling conservative rage at the “elite media.”
“I think the destructive, vicious negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. I’m appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.” Gingrich snarled at King. The audience roared its approval.
At an earlier Fox News Channel debate in Myrtle Beach, Gingrich rebuffed a question from panelist Juan Williams on whether black voters might be insulted by Gingrich’s frequent references to Obama as the “food stamp” president. Obama is the nation’s first black president; Williams is also black.
“The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history. Now, I know among the politically correct, you’re not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable,” Gingrich said, adding: “If that makes liberals unhappy, I’m going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job and learn some day to own the job.”
The reaction in the audience was so positive that Gingrich’s campaign produced a television ad drawing from the exchange.
Gingrich even spoke of his own debating skills at his South Carolina victory party.
“It’s not that I am a good debater,” he said. “It is that I articulate the deepest-felt values of the American people.”
While Gingrich’s strong debate performances have temporarily deflected questions about his history and character, few expect that to last. Gilbert Cranberg, an emeritus professor of mass communications at the University of Iowa, said good debaters don’t necessarily make good presidents.
“You want a president to be deliberative, to consult, not to make snap judgments,” Cranberg said. “Debates are showbiz.”
___
AP deputy director of polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.
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Video: Have voters ?moved on? from Cain?
>> thank you. david gregory is moderator of “meet the press.” let’s start with herman cain . he acknowledged giving money to ginger white. he says his wife didn’t know. unlike the sexual harassment allegations no one is leaping to his defense here. do you think voters moved on?
>> i think he has a problem with women and social conservatives who are important in iowa. as you see newt gingrich rise it’s a sign herman cain is suffering damage. he can’t raise money and that’s a problem. he’s reassessing. he doesn’t have people rallying around him.
>> have you ever seen a political ad where he says a lie detector has examined him?
>> i haven’t. i don’t need to check with my wife to know not telling your wife that you are financially supporting another woman is not a good idea in politics or generally.
>> thanks for the relationship add a vice. let’s go to newt gingrich . the polls show he’s the new front runner . we hear according to reports that romney is preparing a strategic offensive against romney . he’d blown off other front runners .
>> he recognizes and his team recognizes something dangerous here. gingrich has the potential to run the table a little bit and be the anti- romney candidate. this is a right for the right. it’s gingrich and romney . gingrich says, i will be the nominee. i’m the real conservative in the race by any rational standard. romney wants to keep his fire trained on president obama . that helps with the base because he’s certainly more conservative than obama. in this case he knows gingrich will come after him and he’ll start to go after gingrich .
>> do you think the matchup has the potential to be the epic prolonged battle we saw for example in 2008 with hillary clinton and then senator obama ?
>> much too early to say. one, newt gingrich has a history of saying things like his comments about children working. 17 years ago he talked about kids going into orphanages and talked about boys town . 17 years to the day almost. he can be undisciplined and gets in trouble. romney has money and they think that helps him. makes it a longer affair. the kind of support gingrich doesn’t have right now.
>> romney did an interview. he hasn’t done a ton of national interviews and there were moments he seemed irritated by the questioning. what does it say about romney ? does it go to the likability issues he may have with voters?
>> it does. and he doesn’t want to do one on one interviews now. he’s been debating effectively. he’ll have to answer questions about you said this and this. the question about authenticity, these are issues within the primary.
>> what’s on “meet the press” this weekend?
>> we’ll talk about the presidency. david axelrod and reince preibus will be with me.
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45521968/
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