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Monday, August 6, 2007
Blogwatch: The GOP field and the Fair Tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After the weekend debate in Iowa, State Sen. David Shafer of Duluth gave voice to some of the internal dialogue occurring among Republicans vis a vis the ‘08 presidential contest.
On his blog, Shafer wondered at the poor reception the Fair Tax has gotten among three of the four Republican leaders:
I knew that Governor Huckabee supported the Fair Tax. I did not realize that Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney had all ruled it out.
Giuliani’s answer to the Fair Tax question, in particular, was disappointing. He expressed puzzlement over the Fair Tax’s ”complicated” details.
“When Tom Tancredo suggested that the ex-mayor read the Fair Tax Book written by Neal Boortz and John Linder, Guiliani shouted out that he already had, prompting Tancredo to wonder aloud why he was still having such difficulty understanding the details. I wondered the same thing myself.
I am hopeful that Fred Thompson will embrace the Fair Tax when he enters the Presidential race. When he was in Atlanta last month, he indicated that he was open minded.
Says Newt: ‘Odds are significant’ the Democrats win the White House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re a betting man, you have to like Democrats’ chances of taking over the White House next year, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said early this morning.
“The odds are fairly significant that that the left will win next year. My personal bet is that it’ll be a Clinton-Obama ticket. I think they have a very high likelihood of winning,” Gingrich told business leaders at a gathering of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.
This from a fellow who, just three months ago, was fending off scores of when-will-you-announce questions about his own presidential aspirations. Gingrich didn’t address the question directly on Monday.
But politicians chomping at the bit to run have three things in common: A slimmed-down figure, a tan suitable for TV cameras, and well-coiffed hair. Maybe not John Edwards-style hair, but well-barbered nonetheless.
Perhaps it was the 7 a.m. hour, but Gingrich had none of these. He was, however, very sober when it came to the GOP dilemma. Here’s a five-minute sound clip with many of his comments. The pen-scratching you hear is my fault.
As more Republicans are doing, Gingrich pinned much of the blame on the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
“The problem you have right now is that the party and movement that best understands reality have not delivered on fundamental change. And the election of 2006 was in essence a punishment to Republicans — it was a performance election, not a values election,” the former Georgia congressman said.
“The Republican challenge is, until they get past being Bush, they have an enormous difficulty in getting people to open their minds. Six months ago in the polling numbers, [Republican Rudy] Giuliani was ahead of [Hillary] Clinton. He is now behind. He’s the strongest Republican in terms of popular vote, whether you’re for him or against him,” Gingrich said.
The Republican strategist singled out what he called President Bush’s inability to communicate with the public about Iraq.
“We cannot get him to master the art that Reagan had and that Lincoln had, of talking to the American people in a form in which they are comfortable,” Gingrich said.
“So my first advice to the President was, ‘Don’t say anything anymore. Keep quiet.’ Let General [David] Petraeus and [Iraq] Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker to speak for the country.’
“And then the Democrats in Congress have to decide are General Clinton and General Reid and General Pelosi really more knowledgeable than General Petraeus. It’s very hard to go to the country and say I’m going to abandon the Americans in Iraq. It’s very easy to go to the country and say George W. Bush is wrong.”
Gingrich said the proper thing to do is to share the burden of Iraq with Democrats. “First thing I’d do is make it their problem,” he said, by risking the leaks and offering full, weekly briefings to Congress.
All that said, Gingrich left himself an escape hatch.
“Anybody who thinks anything is decided completely misunderstands how fluid this country is. And everything I just said could change dramatically by September or October of next year, if you have the Republicans take the right strategy, or if the Democrats fail to take the right strategy,” he said.
And about these whispers of a third-party ticket that pairs New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with former U.S. senator Sam Nunn of Georgia: Gingrich said he saw no way for it to succeed.
“It’s a little hard for me to imagine Nunn doing something as radical as running on a third-party ticket,” Gingrich said.
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