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Subscribe to RSSFormer Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is enjoying a new round of perennial presidential candidacy buzz – he came in a surprisingly strong third in a recent 2012 preference poll among Iowa Republicans - but his personal life continues to dog him.
Conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma bluntly stated his concern about the twice-divorced, thrice-married Gingrich during a Friday town hall.
"He's the last person I'd vote for for president of the United States,” Coburn said, per the Tulsa World. “His life indicates he does not have a commitment to the character traits necessary to be a great president."
Coburn said that Gingrich’s personal history indicates that he “doesn't know anything about commitment to marriage.”
A recent profile in Esquire magazine explored that history, including details of the affairs that ended his first two marriages. The writer interviewed Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, who painted a frank picture of her ex-husband's moral inconsistencies.
"He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected," she said in the interview. "If you believe that, then yeah, you can run for president."
*** UPDATE *** Msnbc.com's Tom Curry points out that Coburn has long been critical of the former House Speaker.
In his 2003 book, Breach of Trust, Coburn portrayed Gingrich as lacking in courage and in good judgment.
Coburn said Gingrich was outwitted by President Bill Clinton in the 1995 battle over the budget which led to temporary shutdown of the government. “Our leaders folded instead of standing their ground,” Coburn wrote. “History shows that the shutdown fight was a fight we could have won.”
Leave a Comment:
Neandercon fight! *rwreeeoowrr*!
Let's not forget that the Gingrich led Republicans in Congress put the brakes on Federal spending, which resulted in several years of Budget SURPLUSES in the late 1990s (of course, Clinton tried to take the credit).
Perhaps if the Republicans take over Congress in November, we'll get some fiscal sanity back, like what happened in 1994 under Gingrich with his "Contract with America".
Isn't it interesting that infidelity by Clinton was no problem?
I was thinking the same thing about Clinton's infidelity and Coburn's opinion of Newt. Maybe Coburn is saying that it's okay to be unfaithful as long as you don't get caught or are already elected President.
But that's beside the point. I don't really get all wet in my shorts over Newt either. He just smells too much like more of the same.
And Roy... I've seen countless postings (from others) saying that the Clinton surpluses were accounting voodoo on wonky math and yet I've seen you on two occassions credit the "accounting voodoo" as a GOP success. I'm curious as to which it really was in your mind.
President Clinton may have had sexual issues but he was not a serial wife-dumper.
By contrast Gingrich had wife #1 served with divorce papers while she was hospitalized with cancer. Wife number #2 got the word of the pending divorce via a phone call on Mothers' Day.
Not this was any loss to her. He was already in an adulterous affair with a Congressional aide.
Funny Roy, I seem to remember it WAS CLinton who demanded a balanced budget, and the Republicans who refused!
Try to re-write history all you want, the fact was that a confrontation between Congress and the President over balancing the budget was WON by Clinton, when he REFUSED to sign an unbalanced budget! The Federal Government shut down, because the GOP-run Congress refused to pass a balanced budget. That was teh day the GOP surrendered the plank of Fiscal Responsibility form their platform. How they think they still have any claim after electing Bush, I have NO idea!
Nice try at subverting reality though!
The difference is that Clinton and Democrats don't walk around saying they're the party of values. He never acted as the holier than thou type like Gingrish did. While Gingrish was attacking Clinton for cheating, Gingrish was doing the same thing. That is hypocracy.
What gave us surpluses during the Clinton years was the Omnibus Budget Reconcilation Act of 1993. Not a single Republican voted for it. Al Gore had to step in, in the senate as the tie breaking vote. It raised taxes on the rich, increased spending on job training and police, and created "pay as you go" rules. Rules that Republicans have ignored since taking power. If Republicans were responsible for the surpluses how come Bush converted the surpluses he inherited into deficits, with a Republican congress?
Fred Evil "Funny Roy, I seem to remember it WAS CLinton who demanded a balanced budget, and the Republicans who refused!"
Do a little research Fred. The "shutdown" was over extra spending proposed by Clinton that the Republicans claimed would result in Deficits, not excess spending proposed by the Republicans.
RatPoison "And Roy... I've seen countless postings (from others) saying that the Clinton surpluses were accounting voodoo on wonky math and yet I've seen you on two occassions credit the "accounting voodoo" as a GOP success. I'm curious as to which it really was in your mind."
I have never said the surpluses were "accounting voodoo". I base my figures on the government's own accounting records, and there were several years of "surpluses" near the end of Clinton's Presidency and the Republican led Congress had control of the purse-strings during those years. Many people credit Clinton, but Congress actually controls spending each year.
Interestingly, the current Democratic controlled Congress has decided not to pass a Budget this year (virtually unprecedented, but hardly reported by the media) - probably because they don't want their spending constrained by a Budget.
Footnote - There is a difference between the Budget DEFICIT and the increase in the National Debt. Most people don't know that, over the 30 years ending in 2008, the total of those 30 years of Deficits was only about $4.6 Trillion, yet the National Debt for those same 30 years increased by about $9.2 Trillion. That's what I call "voodoo accounting".
I hope that claifies what's on my mind.
Roy Wilson - apparently infidelity was a problem for Clinton, he was impeached (a movement led by Gingrich, who was having an affair at the time). Perhaps you were out of the country. Think before you speak !! Also the budget was balanced for the 2000 term year, not 1994.
Not one Republican voted for the bill responsible for the surplus during Clinton's term. Get the facts right.
Neadercon-i love it. thanks.
Never thought I would agree with Dr. No..lol
Dr. No sais "net" to Newt!........ Now that's funny!
Yep, our long standing rally cry: Neuter Newt!
Really? Tom Coburn is a good judge of anyone? I wish they could have found someone who's legacy is simply "Nay". Newt is a piece of work to be sure, but Coburn is a loud voice for the party of "no" and I have no alternative plan either.
I am no fan of Newt Gingrich either, but the current crop of presidential hopefuls make him look brilliant and only slightly creepy, by comparison
Says a lot about the Republican party doesn't it?
By the comment: "... current crop of presidential hopefuls make him look brilliant and only slightly creepy" I would include the current POTUS, Biden and Hillary.
So I would say that says a lot about the Democratic party too.
Jeff
Your post is a Pee Wee Herman type post- obviously you don't have much going on upstairs either.
Two, count 'em TWO wives couldn't trust Gingrich. He told two of them "till death do us part," etc., etc. So this scum who acts on impulse to betray his wives wants to be President? He was diddling when he was attacking Clinton for the same thing, under the guise of lying to Congress. Lying to God, wives, friends, and the American people is okay, though.
LoLoLoLoLoLoL ~ What else can all these pots do but call each other black?
Call each other Kennedy?
Quacksnacker:
So, are you telling me that Clinton was a liar? Besides, I thought betraying one's wife with a 19 year old and carrying on an affair with Gennifer Flowers and lying about both was a personal matter and really has nothing to do with a person's ability to be president.
LoLoLoLoL ~ Richard, you always crack me up. Touche. But the difference is that there are really only two or three democrat examples of this kind of hypocrisy and sleeziness that republicans have to keep recycling. Ted Kennedy. Bill Clinton. John Edwards. Gary Hart. And that's pretty much it for the last 40 years or so. And democrats weren't holier than thou to begin with, and they don't take pot shots at each other. With republicans, on the other hand, it seems like two or three per week. And they are smugly self-righteous until they get caught. And they eat their own on a regular basis.
Anna Molly, I think it's pretty much dead even, just because that's how life generally is. You forgot JFK, by the way but I guess that goes back more than 40 years. Then there was Brock Adams. Barney Frank might not have been unfaithful, but his associations were pretty sleazy, too, at one point. Al Gore is even making a pitch to join the ranks right now.
Then there was senator Daniel Inouye, Rep. Gerry Studds, the pardoned-by-Clinton Mel Reynolds, Representative Fred Richmond, Wilbur Mills and the tidal basin Foxe . . .
Anyway, you get the drift.
And even though it's fun to bat it back and forth, politicians should be held to no more account for their personal lives than the average joe.
For some reason, however, most of the media seems to shy away from recycling the Democrat examples, at least from my perspective.
But you're right, it's better to be deliberately and openly sleazy than trying to project yourself as something you're not. That's definitely an area where Democrats have the edge.
Not sure that's a compliment.
Newt Gingrich.....Newt Gingrich......didn't he used to be somebody? Like, in the last century?
There is no description that is despicable enough for Gingrich. But there are always some idiots out there who will vote for him just because they've heard his name somewhere before...
Sounds like ( "idiots" comment) you are talking about Reid, Pelosi, and in 2012--Obama. Gingrich is certainly no saint, but neither are the aforementioned!
cutter, Are you one of those Nattering Nabobs of Negativism that Spiro Agnew used to talk about????? Is he out of jail yet??????? Since Bush is out of office do we still believe that people who denigrate the Constitutionally elected government are supporters of the terrorists?????? Inquiring minds want to know.
Well, you could call him the Republican Bill Clinton, but that WOULD be a little harsh.
MarineVet
Spiro Agnew never spent a day in jail. Get your history right before making a fool of yourself. We had this saying in the Marine Corps “You sound like defecation salesman with a mouth full of samples.”
Bet Senator Coburn would not have voted for Rudy Guilliani either!
Seriously, with all the hateful, prejudiced, mean-spirited comments Gingrich has made--it's the 2 divorces and 3 marriages that cost Coburn's support.
Gingritch/Palin - 2012 ..... Weirder things have happened.
If the toothless rednecks in this country were snookered into voting for W (TWICE!) - What makes you think they wouldn't vote for either of these two blowhards.
62,000,000 "toothless rednecks" voted for W in 2004.
69,000,000 total dumb*ss's voted for Obama in 2008.
At least the "toothless rednecks" knew what they were getting unlike the total dumb*ss's who are still trying to figure out how they could have been SO WRONG.
The Dude-1382796
Really? You give Obama 20 months and everything is supposed to be honkey dorey? When it took 30 years to get to this point. You should blame that traitor Reagan fro this mess because "Reaganomics" got us here. Yes Clinton helped w/ NAFTA, a George Bush Sr. idea to ship jobs overseas.
So in 20 months Obama has inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, and Energy policy done in secret and lord knows what else is on his plate, but in 20 months everything is supposed to be honkey dorey. Your a moron.
The Dude-1382796
"62,000,000 "toothless rednecks" voted for W in 2004.
69,000,000 total dumb*ss's voted for Obama in 2008.
At least the "toothless rednecks" knew what they were getting unlike the total dumb*ss's who are still trying to figure out how they could have been SO WRONG. "
OK— where's the Pee Wee Herman guy when we really need his comment?
Philip
If I am a moron, why do fellow democrats flee to the other side of the state when Obama visits? In 20 months, this excellent candidate and awful manager has made the economy dreadful. He is in over his head. Call me what you want, you lose the House and now serious talk of the Senate for 1 reason...Obama.
@The Dude: wait... so... the economy was just great and in no way endangerede BEFORE Obama got elected? I seem to remember things a bit differently, but what do I know.
Dude-1382796
Yes Obama is like a albatross for Dems trying to get elected, but did anyone see the Lil Shrub or Darth Cheney out stomping for anyone either? Bush handed over the worse economy since the Great Depression thanks to Repub spending for 6 straight years. The Dems came in 06 to current, just as the Bubble was bursting. Hmm,seems to me that this is something that happened under the Repubs watch, the Dems are simply inheriting their mess. I don't put all the blame on Bush though, the bulk of it started w/ that traitor Reagan and continued forward. And yes, Clinton has his share of the blame as well even though he had to work w/ a Repub Congress dead set on impeaching him for lying. Yes he lied to the American people and his wife, but Gingrich is a hypocrite because he's telling people to "do as I say, not as I do"
Coburn as President would be the best to happen to this country since Ted Kennedt died. Balance the budget tomorrow. Deadbeats beware....the party is coming to an end...the federal spigot is drying up...responsibility for your own pathetic lives...no more bailouts....land of opportunity for all legal Americans....hooray!
Dude you are totally confused...
@michigander91
Well first I'll just mention proofreading as a term for you to look up. Grammar would be another term to which I will let you determine it's importance in your life as it relates to others. Lastly, GEORGE W. BUSH proposed the 700 billion dollar bailout. Do you not remember him going on the tube and asking congress to approve his proposal? The link below should strike a nerve in your short short memory.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/bush.bailout/index.html
Since I read Breach of Trust I have no use for Gingrich and he is better out of government than in goverment, go Coburn, go.
You know what we could do? We could elect a corrupt, incompetent, college professor who has never managed or run anything and the after a couple of years when his incompetence becomes obvious to all we could call anyone who spoke the truth and criticized him a racist!
Yeah that will work. Run the economy into the ditch, give health care to the same government that runs the post office and has stolen Medicare and social security funds over the last 40 years...yeah that will work...remember our mantra...no excellence for some but mediocrity for all. If we continue to make bad choices, out of wedlock pregnancy, drop out of school, use illegal drugs, commit crimes, etc., we will just demand that the government provide us housing, food, healthcare and education and get Al and Jesse on tv to scream racism whenever someone even mentions this is the land of opportuniy, not outcomes. Can't compete...leave...
Great post, altho the welfare wanting liberals/progressives/whatever they decide to call themselves this week, will be calling you a racist. Their only retort now, since nothing the "Chosen One" is working.
Or we could elect a failed business man who was a C student, at best, in business school who then, in order to impress daddy, will invade a country that we have no business invading. Oh wait. We tried that...
Or we could elect any of the corrupt and ignorant Republicans running and they could just continue to destroy the country as Bush started!
The economy was tanked by the time Obama was president. Wow, you are a glaring example of education in this country and I'm in favor of higher taxes for better schools and teachers. I certainly don't want another generation of people with your soaring intellect.
Last time I checked the economy was fine until 2006 when a democratic congress took control.
@Jeff. Um are you saying that congress took control of the banking industry in 2006 and retroactively forced them to go back in time and give adjustable rate loans to people that were in jeopardy of defaulting on those loans?
'...out of wedlock pregnancy, drop out of school...'then we shold elect Sara to lead the way.
Don't forget about the gays and environmentalists. They are ruining michigander91's world too. All that gay sex in our national forests inhibit strip mining and petrochemical exploration. (not to mention it scares the caribou, making them harder to hunt)
Whoa-Whoa-Whoa Jeff-498218
Last time I checked 2006 we were in two unpaid for wars and had 6 years left on a unpaid for tax credit for the top 1% of the country. So yep--Dems are the ones to blame. Wow--your intelligence shows the need for increased taxes.
michigander
Same lame BS from righties. Complaining about the Post Office- they take a letter from one coast
to the other for 47 cents in 3-4 days. If you had to pay what it should cost- like if some Republican company ran it- the whole country would be bitching about the cost- righties don't bitch about the cost of mailing something they bitch because the employees are paid. Righties want government to give them free stuff ? can you say hypocrite boys and girls.
I don't know what Health care Bill you are looking at, but the one that actually passed does not "give health care to the same government that runs the post office", it gives the health insurance corporations the entire population of the country as new customers.
Yea
So, if you liberals are so smart, why can't you fix the economy? You had a super majority until Jan of this year, you know, when you lost Ted Kennedy's seat.
If you are so smart, why are you about to lose the House and now serious talk of the Senate?
You are so smart you chose Obama who has 0 experience at anything...see daily news, over Hillary Clinton who did not vote NV (no vote) over 80% of her tenure unlike Obama. She worked in the White House for 8 years of overall prosperity in the county. But no! You are so smart you picked the "smart" guy.
Hows' that working for you now?
@Dude: The only thing that Democrats are unhappy with Obama for is not coming down harder on Republicans. That's the truth.
Dude
So your admitting that the Repubs aren't that smart?
michigander91;
You are so wrong on all accounts about the the post you just posted............
republicans quit blaiming Obama for what Coburn said....newt has gone the deep to end
It's about time someone on the right stood up for "do as I do" values instead of "do as I say" values. I'm not a Republican, but I applaud someone with the balls to call out one of the most famous faces of the party and try to change it for the better. If the Dems or Republicans want to win an election they have to realize they are not above the law or the moral compass. Candidates should be held to the same scrutiny that they would hold others too. Way to go Coburn. I don't know if we'd agree on policy, but we do agree on this. Well done.
Coburn isn't much of an example we should live by.
http://blog.oeta.tv/onr/index.php/2010/04/01/senator-coburn-named-in-ethics-complaint
Guess he a palin can't talk about family values but they can always ask for forgiveness and cry some crocadile tears to win a few more votes from the gullible...can I get a amen
AMEN!
AMEN!
AMEN Brother (or Sister) ! AAAMMEEEN!
Senator Coburn, Newt Gingrich's marriages are none of your business. Get it yet? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. The GOP cannot dictate to others what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable behavior in the privacy of other people's marriages. When did these people in the GOP decide that they were going to dictate how we all live our lives?
Other than that, I wouldn't vote for Newt either. But as far as I'm concerned, his marriages are the least of his problems. He's a little "out there" in culture war phony BS. Middle aged men rarely know anything you'll find. They get us into more heapin' trouble with their shallow dictator-like mindsets.
They don't teach us a whole lot. Not like in the old days when our grandfathers were kind and open to diversity. And that is because most of them weren't born here. They lived hard lives, but never dictated to anyone else how they should live their lives. Never once. They were in essence very neighborly who took an interest in all the children. They told stories in order to teach, not to dictate.
The Republican Party of today think they own this country and want to dictate how we live. lol
It's not exactly a subject they know much about, since they're all quite a bit limited in this mindsets. You know, blind and way way way out of touch.
Senator Cogburn thinks that because Gingrich didn't take his marriage vows seriously, he won't keep any campaign promises he makes, either. News flash to Sen. Cogburn---one's private life doesn't dictate one's public life, and vice versa. If it did, you'd think he would be behind a well-educated Christian family man with an accomplished wife, 2 well-behaved kids, a mother-in-law he gets along with and a dog. Oh wait--he'd be supporting President Obama.
Or Dick Cheney, perhaps.
Pat, Boston
The Repubs want less government until it comes to a woman's reproductive rights. Then the government needs to be there monitoring every woman's uterus.The hypocritical bs their pushing is incredible. Its exact like Newt's wife said, he wants people to do as he says, not as he does.
Richard--Cogburn can't support Dick Cheney because his daughter is gay.
Philip, you didn't go far enough. The Republicans want to to severely curtail government except for in the bedroom, the doctor's office and hospital room, the classroom, and of course, anywhere they think that can make money for their stockhold- er, supporters.
Steeler Fan:
From Huff'n'puff Post:
"A broad-based Senate coalition including Senators Russell Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced a resolution condemning Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill.
The bipartisan resolution urges Uganda's parliament to reject an anti-homosexuality bill and urges all countries to reject and repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality."
So, maybe. Maybe not. Coburn is also a good friend of Barack Obama, by the way.
Why do jokers like Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, John Dean and a bunch of
others too numerous to mention never go away. All they bring to the table is misery!
Don't forget about the gays and environmentalists. They are ruining michigander91's world too. All that gay sex in our national forests inhibit strip mining and petrochemical exploration. (not to mention it scares the caribou, making them harder to hunt)
Surely not in the Grand Tetons?
Hmmmm....but the very religious and "Family Values" Senator Coburn had NOOOOOO problem getting right in the middle of the "Ensign affair", helping to negotiate the $$$$$$ payments to Ensign's victims....wow, such a fine example he sets, huh??????? Senator Coburn, you are a FAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Newt Gingrich, 1997:
The House voted overwhelmingly to reprimand House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and order him to pay an unprecedented $300,000 penalty, the first time in the House's 208-year history it has disciplined a speaker for ethical wrongdoing.
"Newt has done some things that have embarrassed House Republicans and embarrassed the House," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.). "If [the voters] see more of that, they will question our judgment."
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) gave a spirited speech calling the penalty unwarranted. Answering those who said a speaker should be held to a higher standard of ethical conduct, DeLay said: "The highest possible standard does not mean an impossible standard no American could possibly reach." He closed by declaring: "Let's stop this madness, let's stop the cannibalism."
--how times change.
Coburns soooo moral. Isn't he the one who brokered the payoff to Sen. Ensign's mistress ?
The interesting thing is that someone agreed to marry "Newt the Brute" not once, not twice but three times! I guess his success with women is consistent with the Republicans' success with the American electorate of late. They successfully dupe the electorate into bed by grossly overstating their attractiveness until daylight when she screams in horror at the unattractive, blubbery mass beside her.
Mad in CT, you must be talking about the Dems. The Repubs. are no shining example of propiety, but neither are the Dems. To say otherwise is to show your rank partisanship. Throw all the bums out, institute term limits (lots of luck on that one), get back to core principals, and yes, downsize government, entitlements, and corporate welfare.
Cutter--
How about legislating or enforcing education to mandate base intelligence so that people like you are forced to think before spewing nonsense?