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Subscribe to RSSMANCHESTER, N.H. -- Two top legislative leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire are set to endorse Newt Gingrich in the Republican presidential primary.
Iowa House Speaker Kraig Larsen and New Hampshire House Speaker are each expected to announce their support for Gingrich just weeks before their respective states host critical nominating contests.
The two speakers will appear together with Gingrich in Iowa on Wednesday before traveling to New Hampshire later that day for another endorsement event, according to the the New Hampshire Union Leader, which first reported the endorsements. Paulsen endorsed Fred Thompson in 2008. O'Brien did not endorse in the last cycle.
"Having a double endorsement would be a big win for the campaign. I hope it happens. We will wait and see," spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News, declining to comment directly on the endorsements.
It was widely expected that O'Brien would back Gingrich, but his support came only after flirtations with other campaigns. O'Brien had considered both Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and helped lead a delegation to Austin this summer meant to encourage Texas Gov. Rick Perry to enter the race. The state house speaker also defended Perry to critics following a particularly jovial and energetic speech in Manchester earlier this fall.
Over the past several months, O'Brien made it known that he would not endorse Mitt Romney, the longtime leader in polls in the Granite State.
O'Brien's endorsement is one of the last major one remaining in New Hampshire ahead of its Jan. 10 primary. N.H. Rep. Frank Guinta (R) is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks between Romney, Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Rep. Charlie Bass and Manchester mayor Ted Gastas have endorsed Romney.
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Huh? Either Frank Guinta is going to endorse Romney, or he already has. Which is it, FR?
O'Brien is the worst kind of tea-bagger imaginable. He has been a disaster for NH.
It will not be OK for extremely affluent Republican Norquistian Congressionals to:
1. Pass a $1Trillion spending bill.
2. Then hike up taxes on 160 million workers by refusing to extend the Payroll tax.
3. And then leave town on a month's vacation.
NO.
NO.
NO.
NO.
Jack -
Maybe he endorsed Romney when he was Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, but in the spirit of the Romney campaign, is re-considering his choice now that he's Representative Frank Guinta.
Either that or he has an evil twin with the same name who's actually still considering both Huntsman and Santorum. Geez, decisions, decisons.....
And maybe he's just confused. Or First Read is ....
You realize, of course, that resistance is futile.
Whatever else happens, we KNOW this will, too.
Trump up a crisis, pretend to solve it, and then take an extended vacation to make everyone forget about it.
Now, where have we seen this before?
SOP these days.
Stop the presses!
Gary Busey has withdrawn his endorsement of Newter!
If you can't count on Gary, who can you count on? lol
AM,
Remember, these are the GOP/Koch-ers who have long insisted that tax cuts 'don't need be paid for'.
These are the folks who refused & declined even to debate 2 million American jobs:
Because they didn't want to ask 300,000 American, the richest in the history of the world, to pay a tiny surtax.
If they even dream of holding us to ransom for the 4th time over this, easily resovable matter ---
NO.
NO.
NOT THIS TIME.
O'brien is one reason New Hampshire has gone from Blue/Purple to solid Red.
Hey, folk: The Recall Scott Walker campaign is almost over the petition threshhold:
http://american-idle.newsvine.com/_news/2011/12/15/9472176-breaking-wisconsin-republican-governor-scott-walker-recall-petitioners-have-507000-signatures
Now, back to your regular programming. Endorsements can help. "Opinion leaders" do influence some voters, especially those who are the endorser's strongest supporters (in the case of politicians' endorsements). Also, most of these people making endorsements have access to on-the-ground resources to help with canvassing and GOTV, as well as sometimes to additional fundraising muscle. Both are quite important to Gingrich, whose campaign is, well, somewhat weak and disorganized.
May the Greedy One-percent Party (GOP) get a major arse-whopping in 2012, certainly to save our great nation from GinGrinch having access to our nuclear arsenal.
John A.-400474 -- Yay! Now how about Paul Ryan, the leader of the Greedy One-percent Party? He has got to go!
TP - I seeded a story yesterday showing that Ryan is in trouble, according to a new poll. Here's a link:
http://langewinckler.newsvine.com/_news/2011/12/14/9444718-poll-shows-gop-rep-paul-ryan-in-trouble
Good point. If the "job creators" aren't willing to pay even a piddling little surtax to create jobs, why would anyone think they would do it voluntarily, which would no doubt cost them more?
My own first clue was when they tried to gerrymander his own hometown out of his Congressional district because he opposed the GM bailout. My second was when all those elderly people showed up at his town hall meetings and systematically beat in his whiny little mush-for-brains. My third clue was when his district went decidedly blue in last year's Supreme Court race.
Great news, John. Thank you for sharing that.
Rob,
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. He is one of the reasons this state is going to shift back to Blue/Purple.
John A.,
I haven't read it yet, but I will. Do you think it's why he's suddenly scrambling to come up with a different solution for Medicare?
Anna Molly -- Many of the 1% from Warren Buffet (who is not a liberal) to the Left Coast (Silicon Valley, Hollywood) plusmany of the true "job creators" who are NOT in the richest 1%, feel the rich needs to contribute more. They know the importance of a strong middle class, not only for the economy but as an important element of democracy. The corporations out there sitting on piles of cash that have cut hours, wages, and benefits still lag in this understanding. What comes around goes around you greedy CEO's and shareholders.
Teapublicans in Washington as well as at the state level around the nation are blocking this because they answer to Big Oil and Wall Street money, but most of all because they simply oppose anything the president proposes even if the majority of Americans want fairer taxation of the rich.
John A.-400474-- Great news about Paul Ryan! Cantor's snively smarmy face disgusts me the most, but Ryan is right in there with Cantor.
Oh, pish, TP. Buffett became a "liberal" the day he first dared to defy his fellow "conservatives."
The party of lockstep thinking simply doesn't tolerate that sort of thing.
Ryan and Cantor. As pretty a pair of fillies as ever we've seen in Piccadilly.
True Patriot,
What the hell! Just typed you a message and it suddenly disappeared! Oh, well. Here goes again.
Agreed. I hate Cantor's face, and Ryan's runs a close second. The two of them are such pompous asses, and it's reflected in the face they present to the public. Smarmy is the perfect word for it.
Love your avatar.
(Hey, Anna Molly. Did you "disappear" me? I think I was ahead of you in line. You'll have to show me that little trick!)
The traditional purpose of the first two primary states; close-up "retail" politicking (by the candidates in front of regular folk in their living rooms and local events and restaurants etc.) before the race devolves into multimillion dollar ad campaigns, stadium sized rallies and sound bite politics, has been usurped by the cell phone, the 24 hr news channels and the "politics as sport" mentality that pervades.
The "tradition" of collecting endorsements for example, seems to have little to no bearing on the polling or eventual election results, so trumpeting that Newton has a double endorsement may be "political news" but it probably means more to the people posting on this and similar blogs than it does to the voters in Iowa and NH
dangerfield, you just answered the question I was going to ask. Do endorsements really matter (on both sides) anymore? Maybe just for fund raising?
I do think technology has diminished the value of endorsement. Most endorsements such as these Iowa ones today have little impact on voters. I do think some endorsements can "charge" up the supporters of a particular candidate. I'm thinking Caroline Kennedy during the primary and Colin Powell during the general. Although people don't look to see who has endorsed someone as their reason to support a candidate, the right endorsers can have some influence on a voter who hasn't quite decided but is leaning that way. Then you have the candidates who drop out and the one left standing wants that candidate's support so the endorsement can help. The reverse can be true as well, look at how quickly McCain accepted then dumped the endorsement of Rev Hagge in 2007-08. It depends on who the endorser is.
I think endorsements on the local level have an impact on voters in the region, but on a national scale endorsements mean very little...unless, of course, a political pariah like O'Donnell or Coulter throws in with a candidate. In that case, it would be prudent for the candidate to change his name and move to a different state, preferably in a different time zone.
This is great! I think Republicans should go with the candidate who best represents the Party's ideology, and that would be the guy who has made millions off his government connections, who was booted out of office for the same ethics violation he accused his predecessor of making, who never served in the military but has lots of ideas as to what countries we should invade next. Yes! Newt Gingrich!
I'm with you.
But Newt'r and Ron Paul will never be allowed the nomination, the Republican establishment won't allow it.
Amy, well said!
Endorse Newt because he was only an "historian" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, not a lobbyist who went to Congress to keep legislators from writing legislation that could have prevented the mess--all to the tune of $1.6 million in Newt's pocket. Make no sense, zero zip nada.
BTW, Ann Romney robo-called this morning to invite me to drive clear across the state to Sioux City to meet them--at 8:30 AM Friday morning.
Question, if either man is ahead in delegate count at the convention, do you think the powers that be would go for the old smoke filled back room scenario?
errr amy, obama has no military experience. What politician hasn't made money off of political affiliations? Think obama will remain in the background like reagan and bush1 & 2?
Cool amy, obama literally invaded libya with weapons attacks and publicly fomented the overthrow of egypts government as well as promoting internal discord in other soveriegn nations. Now we have combat troops in ugand (or is it nigeria?). btw we are now setting up a big military base in australia.
As far as ethics go, congressional members frequently try to descredit their fellow members. Is it really ethical for a POTUS to publicly blame the opposing party for wanting to modify his choice of policy?
Better question yet is if it is ethical for a POTUS to spend more time touring the country campaigning at taxpayer expense. Wasn't he elected to govern?
Ah, american-2051576
And here I thought Republicans were going to run someone better than President Obama, not "just as bad."
PS. President Obama has military experience now. He's Commander-in-Chief.
Cool amy, obama literally invaded libya with weapons attacks and publicly fomented the overthrow of egypts government as well as promoting internal discord in other soveriegn nations. Now we have combat troops in ugand (or is it nigeria?). btw we are now setting up a big military base in australia.
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It's simply a continuation of the "Bush Doctrine"...
After his second inauguration, in a January 2004 speech at National Defense University, Bush said: "The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom."
Neoconservatives and the Bush Doctrine held that the hatred for the West and United States in particular does not exist because of actions perpetrated by the United States, but rather because the countries from which terrorists emerge are in social disarray and do not experience the freedom that is an intrinsic part of democracy.[14][19] The Bush Doctrine holds that enemies of United States are using terrorism as a war of ideology against the United States. The responsibility of the United States is to protect itself and its friends by promoting democracy where the terrorists are located so as to undermine the basis for terrorist activities.[14][19]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Doctrine#Democratic_regime_change
"It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," Bush said in his inaugural address after his swearing-in ceremony.
http://articles.cnn.com/2005-01-20/politics/bush.speech_1_ideologies-that-feed-hatred-bush-pledges-human-freedom?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS
Sure hope that gov. branstead stays quiet on this.
The last news article I saw said Branstad wasn't going to make an endorsement, that he'd let the process play out. Most Iowa governors, R or D, have kept quiet prior to the caucus but you never know.
Brandstad is to busy giving tax breaks to his cronies, then complaining about a budget problem to make an endoursement.
midleman - sounds more like you are talking about obama.
Regardless, Iowas unemployment is at or under 6%, its budget is under control and regardless of party shows more fiscal responsibility than most other states.
So, O'Brien was for Slick Rick before he was after and before he was for the Grinch...This is confusing!
But, Slick Rick may have other problems.....
Tamron Hall, NewsNation, just mentioned that Sheriff Joe Arpaio, AZ is accused, by the DOJ, of serious civil rights violations against latinos.....he better come clean/cooperate or face charges.
What's Slick Rick to do......ditched by O'Brien and now this concerning someone who endorsed him!
I think it is time for the happy Texan to go home. (I hear Vicodin is a wonderful pain killer)
Ah, the pain of it all. I doubt that Rick is very happy....Especially since early on it was always touted that Slick Rick 'had never lost an election'.......
Welcome to the National Stage, Rick!....Maybe he can go doctor shopping (back pain and all) for medication to soothe his bruised ego!
I hear Rush could give him some advice on the doctor shopping :)
I'm thinking that Rick wishes he had stuck with his initial decision not to run but no, he was wowed by the GOPers begging him to run, he would be their savior.
Rush, prescription drug abuser, is a voice/leader that the TeaPeople love....
Drug Abuse is fine if you're a TeaPeople......otherwise, OH, NO!
nothing like a debate or two to separate the wheat from the chafe.
Amy, you are so right! He is the face of the Republican party, like it or not. They are all trolls.
JoAnn
What gets me is the hypocrisy of the Republican Party. They claim to be "fiscal conservatives," who just happen to create huge deficits when they are in power. They claim the federal deficit is their biggest concern, but refuse a deal that would cut ten dollars in spending for one dollar in raised taxes. They accused the President of "dithering" when unrest started in Libya, now they accuse him of unsettling the region with his support for the revolution. Their convictions are about an inch deep, except for Bachmann, who, it must be said, has stuck to her crazy positions consistently.
A few years ago I would argue that you are confusing republicans with aholes. Now however, I'm not so sure I could make that arguement anymore. They raise some good points, deficits do in fact matter and should be addressed but refuse to offer steps to remedy the problem that stand a chance of being accepted. The Libya thing showcased their mindset most clearly, before air strikes started, they wanted intervention, after they started they threw a hissyfit that we were interfering in another countries affairs.
If you make less than 250 thousand dollars a year, your not going to do yourself any favors by voting for the republican/tea bagger party. There not here to help the small guy. Everyone should know that by now. Its all about money and the one with the most at the end wins.
Yes Smitty, everyone should know this. But they don't the message machine of the repugnicrite party does it's job very well.
The sheeple are toeing the line. They might as well holler 'zieg heil'. On every thread, they are banging away.......spouting their talking points and vilifying their neighbors in favor of the ruling class. The entire situation is pathetic.
FOX Lies.
@ humansmatter.......And apparently so does MSNBC.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/15/us-msnbc-apology-idUSTRE7BE1K720111215
What a bunch of egomaniacs. November, 2012 is going to rock your world folks. You will discover that most people vote at the polls, not on this page.