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The Spectacle Blog
New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, the Union Leader, endorsed Newt Gingrich today in a front-page editorial signed by publisher Joseph W. McQuaid. The paper’s contrarian conservatism — they rarely endorse frontrunners — has a history of shaping the New Hampshire Republican primary. The Union Leader endorsement helped propel Pat Buchanan to a surprisingly strong (given that he faced a sitting president) 40% of the vote in 1992, and to an upset victory over Bob Dole in 1996. Their endorsement of John McCain (a striking departure from the UL’s hostility to McCain eight years earlier) was a key factor in his New Hampshire victory in 2008, a remarkable comeback given that for much of 2007 McCain’s campaign was left for dead by many observers.
On the other hand, Union Leader endorsements didn’t do much good for Pete Dupont in 1988 or Steve Forbes in 2000 (they finished fourth and third in New Hampshire, respectively). But those cycles were both characterized by emerging two-man races (George H.W. Bush vs. Dole in ‘88, George W. Bush vs. McCain in ‘00) that left the UL unhappy with the choices; their endorsements amounted to statements of protest. That’s not the case in this cycle, where we’ve seen a succession of Not-Romneys rising and falling one after another. Obviously other events in the coming weeks can swamp the effects of a newspaper endorsement, but if the Union Leader maintains a drumbeat of advocacy for their chosen candidate, as they sometimes do, it could help crystallize the race into a Romney vs. Gingrich contest.
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More Blog Posts by John Tabin
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/11/27/new-hampshire-union-leader-end
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teflon93| 11.27.11 @ 9:47AM
Little Lord MittleRoy's looking more evitable by the day.
Jack in Wi| 11.27.11 @ 12:43PM
Newt is unelectable and the endorsement means nothing in this day and age of, nobody bothers with newspapers. The Union Leader endorsement is more of an albatross then anything else. Newt with his Mount Everest of baggage new and old is unelectabe and hated by most Americans and a majority of Republicans. His whole purpose in this race is to dilute the conservative vote. The Neocons who push him could care less who gets in Obama or Romney. They own both of them. The one they hate and fear is a guy named Ron Paul.
Narf| 11.27.11 @ 5:46PM
And yet Newt has a real shot at winning the Republican nomination and Ron Paul has zero chance of it. You wish people feared Ron Paul, but instead they just laugh at him, and it's driving you crazy.
Mike W| 11.27.11 @ 8:07PM
Newt has no shot at winning the nomination. Any rational analysis will tell you that.
Narf| 11.27.11 @ 8:47PM
Nonsense. Even Perry or Cain have a shot, albeit a long shot, at making a comeback and winning the nomination. Newt has a better chance than either of them.
Let's look at the others. Romney still holds a narrow lead, but as Bachmann and Romney and Cain have risen and fallen Romney has picked up none of their support. None. In fact Mitt has lost ground rather than gaining it.
If Newt makes a strong showing in NH, even if it's just a strong second, he'll put a big dent in Romney's image of inevitability.
Perry and Cain have flamed out and it's rare that anyone flames out that badly and makes a comeback. People are too worried that they'll go up against Obama and flame out a second time. And considering how badly they handled their fifteen minutes of popularity, they probably would crash and burn again.
Bachmann flamed out even worse than Perry and Cain. Santorum never managed to catch fire.
Who's left that's worth taking seriously? Ron Paul is a libertarian/liberal who can't get the Conservative support it would take to win the nomination, and if somehow he did get the nomination there would be a Conservative Tea Party third-party challenger running on a platform of strong defense, support of Israel, war on drugs, etc. Huntsman is another libertarian/liberal with no real shot at the nomination. Did I leave anyone out?
The bottom line is that Newt is the last, best shot at avoiding Mitt. And a LOT of people want to avoid Mitt.
Clint| 11.27.11 @ 9:53AM
" The New Hampshire Gazette
The Chickenhawk Hall Of Shame.
name:
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich
rank:
Chickenhawk First Class with Distinguished Fleeing Cross
date-of-birth:
June 17, 1943
home state:
Georgia
missed opportunity:
Vietnam War
preferred activity:
Attending grad school
occupation:
Congressman
A virtuoso in the art of hypocrisy, the former Speaker of the House now claims the Vietnam War was a splendid idea, but at the time he opposed going himself. Newtie also speaks highly of morality, but as a serial adulterer he doesn't want to get too close."
Steven| 11.27.11 @ 9:55AM
Forgive them lord, for they dont know what they do.
Ron Paul 2012z
Clint| 11.27.11 @ 11:04AM
In May, when Gingrich sharply criticized Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan, FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey reminded National Review that Gingrich had been a serial offender:
Citing Gingrich’s support of Dede Scozzafava in the 2009 congressional election in New York’s 23rd district, his backing of Medicare Part D and TARP, and his commercial with Nancy Pelosi about climate change, Armey observes that “Newt entered the race with serious ground to make up with these 2 million Tea Party activists.”…
Brendan Steinhauser, director of Federal and State Campaigns for FreedomWorks, reports that the Tea Partiers he’s talked to are “irate” at Gingrich… “I never met a single Tea Party activist that supported Newt Gingrich for president,” he adds."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here And In New Hampshire.
ml| 11.27.11 @ 11:44AM
It is interesting. I t because of Gingrich won the debate three times in a row. He did better than Mitt Romney. It is going to be the Tea Party's problem if they are not happy with Gingrich. They might just as well stay at home on 2012 Election Day and not vote for anyone on the Republican Party ticket. The Tea Party is not a political party.
Jack in Wi| 11.27.11 @ 12:49PM
Gingrich never won a debate in his life. He flips and flops more on every issue then even Romney. The more he talks with his six chins and blubbery mouth the more he digs himself in hole. He is the neocons wet dream come true. The Chickenhawks, and grifters, like Newt are unelectable for many reason most of which are the fact that 75% of the people want out of these wars, foreign aid ended, and the banksters brought under control. In a way way a Romney Gingrich ticket would be a good thing. There would be a 3rd party which would finally put the Stupid Party out of it's misery.
Al Adab| 11.27.11 @ 11:47AM
The same issue over again. It doesn't matter who "wins" Iowa or NH. What matters is which GOP candidate can win the states which will deliver the electoral votes to the GOP. What the unasailable "Blue states" think about GOP nominees is irrelevant. What matters is who can bring Ohio, Fla, Virginia into the GOP side of the ledger. What the states like CA, NJ, NY and so on think of the GOP is unimportant. What the others think is everything.
Clint| 11.27.11 @ 4:12PM
"According to a new Public Policy Polling survey, Paul leads Obama among independent voters by a 48 to 39 percent margin – the only Republican to enjoy a lead among independents.
“This is yet another poll that clearly shows how competitive Ron Paul is against the sitting President,” Paul’s national chairman said in a statement. “Dr. Paul is making strides not just among Republicans, but independent voters as well. This broad base of increasing support proves that the American people are looking for conviction instead of the typical status quo rhetoric being offered by establishment candidates."
Kingofthenet| 11.27.11 @ 12:35PM
She turned me into a Newt...I got better!
aware| 11.27.11 @ 12:52PM
Last time it was McCain, now it's Newt. I'm sure it was a tough call for them since there are so many alleged conservative/actual establishment minions in the race this time.
With the Republicans flitting around the bar like this now, I hate to see the hag they end up with at last call.
Mimi| 11.27.11 @ 1:52PM
This is one heck of a BIG ONE for Newt! Read what they SAID..... the why of their choice!
There is an insulation around Newt....they can even call GLORIA out with some CALL Girls at the MIC...No use! His WARTS are as famous as he is!....OLD NEWS! Nothing will penetrate...hard as they try. Why is that you say?
It's because we all trust ourselves to KNOW TRUE REDEMPTION! And PLUS we are desparate to put our loved nation into trusted hands...faithful to it's HISTORY, and lit with RAYS of sunshine on our future. Lets see what evolves...and Good Work Newt best of Luck and Gods GRACE!!!
W| 11.27.11 @ 2:32PM
This crank endorsed President Buchanan, President Dupont, President Forbes, and President McCain. Enough said.
This endorsement is the kiss of death for Newt.
hook| 11.27.11 @ 2:32PM
Attn: Jack in Wi, I am wondering what world you are living in and I am not trying to be disrespectful, but even the MSM which hates all things Republican like apparently you do credits Gingrich for his intellect and his debating skills. Only a dishonest creep like Paul Krugman would ever challenge Gingrich's intellect.
I actually think Gingrich is a stronger candidate than Romney because sadly there is a HUGE hostility toward Mormons that I was unaware of until the first time Romney ran. However, Obama has done such an execrable job domestically-his rammed through medical bill against the will of the people (who dont know what is good for them) being the worst thing he did.
He has xeroxed and added to Bush's war policies which have dampened enthusiasm among the hard left who would have called Bush a war criminal if he did the same thing.
Obama's only chance to win is if the media can campaign heavily enough for him because no matter what he does they will be on his side. Even some of them are starting to hedge just a little.
Sean| 11.27.11 @ 2:54PM
It takes a lot of smarts to sit on a couch with Nancy and talk about global warming.
Jack in Wi| 11.27.11 @ 3:22PM
Hook: With all due respect Gingrich has failed at everything he has ever done in a job that means something, husband, Speaker, and human being. His endless shilling for war and the elites have made him persona non grata to most of the population Newt may have a little intelligence, but he has a huge deficit in commonsense. Look he could not explain 300,000 dollars from Fannie Mae. How is he going to explain the real number of 1.6 million? He hasn't come close to explaining anything about the 38 million he got from all these corrupt lobbies. He flopped on his approach to immigration in the last debate. He and his trophy wife and their lavish life style are not what this country wants. The country wants out of the wars, not a windy chickenhawk, to get us in more of them.
hook| 11.27.11 @ 2:57PM
That is hard to argue with Sean. AGW appears to be a fraud. I doubt if "scientists" would cover up data if it wasn't.
Now remember, Newt IS a politician which is a nice word for liar.
MikeN| 11.27.11 @ 6:16PM
Is this the paper that used to be the Manchester Union Leader? I thought they endorsed Dan Quayle in 2000.
Occam's Tool| 11.28.11 @ 1:45AM
The stench of the paultards is overwhelming. Off to weasel zippers.