January 28, 2012 5:20 PM

Gingrich and Romney fight over history

By
Corbett B. Daly
Topics
Campaign 2012

Gingrich got 46% of S.C. evangelical vote
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida -- It is well known that Newt Gingrich is a history buff. But Mitt Romney wants in on the action and now the two candidates are both vying to be the candidate of history.

The former governor of Massachusetts released a new ad Saturday composed entirely of a clip of NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw reading news of ethics charges against the former speaker.

"Good evening. Newt Gingrich, who came to power, after all, preaching a higher standard in American politics, a man who brought down another Speaker on ethics accusations, tonight he has on his own record the judgment of his peers, Democrat and Republican alike," Brokaw said in the January 21, 1997 newscast. The ad is titled "History Lesson."

But Gingrich also wants voters to know about the past.

"I am very proud to run on a Reagan-Gingrich record," Gingrich told supporters at a rally here, invoking the popular president's name as he often does in his stump speech.

As evidence of the powerful inspiration Reagan is for Republican voters, one of Gingrich's supporters was wearing a Reagan t-shirt which had 1980 crossed out in favor of 2008.

Gingrich and Romney are in the midst of a heated battle for the Republican nomination for president, as Republicans in Florida Tuesday decide who is the best candidate to represent their party in the November 6 election against President Obama.

Gingrich is banking on his history and reputation as both a firebrand and a big thinker to energize Republican voters as he makes his case for being the most electable Republican in the race.

"How many of you remember July 1969 watching the (moon) landing? How many of you remember being proud of an America that could?" Gingrich asked his audience of supporters outside the Professional Golf Association's Museum of Golf. Most of the several hundred supporters in the retirement heavy Port St. Lucie raised their hand.

Gingrich, who earlier in the week proposed a lunar colony, made the case that the United States must set priorities if the United States wants to remain "an America that could."

"It's not just about being cheap. It's about being smart," Gingrich said, defending his proposal. He said "the elites," which he described as those Democrats and Republicans who oppose him, have transformed the United States into "an America that couldn't."

Again, he invoked Reagan when he noted that it was the 26th anniversary of the January 28, 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger with teacher Christi McAuliffe onboard.

"When Ronald Reagan spoke that night," Gingrich said, "he didn't talk about defeat, he didn't talk about failure. He talked abut the heroic process of exploration."

Romney's supporters sought to remind voters of another Reagan quotation. The super PAC backing Romney, Restore our Future, is running ads on Florida radio saying "Reagan rejected Newt''s ideas."

"On leadership and charter, Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan," the ad says, noting that Gingrich was mentioned just once in the former president's memoirs.

Tuesday may show show whose interpretation of Reagan's history Republican voters prefer in 2012.

Full CBS News coverage: Campaign 2012


Add a Comment See all 58 Comments
by bluetruckinla January 30, 2012 2:37 PM EST
You got to be kidding ! I heard it before in the Kennedy - Nixon race but I am still shocked to hear " I am voting for him because he is handsome" . Wake up lady ! If Mitt Romney looks like Barbie's Ken that does NOT qualify Mitt Romney to be President of The United States. OMG how shallow ..............

Additionally pollster Towery said Gingrich is doing "substantially better" with men than Romney, 38 to 28, but the former House Speaker still faces a "gender gap," as women are still favoring Romney.

Please Ladies think about this. Ken Oups ! I mean Mitt Romney was empty whole companies into his pockets putting working women and men into the streets. Then sent their jobs to China and Mexico. Mitt Romney was also raided retirement funds and put the money in his pockets also robbing women and men of security in their Golden Years. Mitt Romeny is receiving the working women and men sweat and blood at a rate of over $51,000 DOLLARS a DAY as income !!!!! Anything goes to make a dollar is NOT Capitalism. The drug dealer or corporate raider are both wrong. The business venture was three separate parameters is it moral, ethical, or legal. The drug dealer is immoral and illegal. Mitt Romney is immoral and unethical. Mitt Romney is not and NEVER was in business to create jobs. Mitt Romney wants to make money and any human cost incurred is inconsequential. That includes human cost to women who think Mitt Romney should be President because he is handsome or looks like Ken.

Ladies PLEASE reconsider !!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot is a stake here.
Reply to this comment
by nancy_naive January 30, 2012 2:30 AM EST
Do not dwell on the past, for it cannot be changed.
Do not worry of the future, for it cannot be known.
And, as for your present, I didn't get you one.
Reply to this comment
by occupy_cbs January 29, 2012 4:52 PM EST
NinthSt78: "The notion that history cannot be changed is a farce.....Let's hope that looking backward does not prevent us from moving forward."



Actually, history cannot be changed, only peoples' perceptions of what actually happened. We must continue to look backwards in order to not repeat the same mistakes, like "supply side economic insanity."

Don't take my word for it, but these two conservative republicans:


Tax Cuts And 'Starving The Beast'
by Bruce Bartlett

The most pernicious fiscal doctrine in history

http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/06/tax-cuts-republicans-starve-the-beast-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

-----

Reagan insider: 'GOP destroyed U.S. economy'

David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan's director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in "Four Deformations of the Apocalypse," how the the past 40 years of GOP economic decisions have destroyed not just the economy and capitalism, but the America dream.
Reply to this comment
by NinthSt78 January 29, 2012 3:25 PM EST
The notion that history cannot be changed is a farce aptly demonstrated by the 1972 edition of the official visitors' guidebook and the 1992 edition of the official visitors' guidebook to an important National Landmark. Let's hope that looking backward does not prevent us from moving forward. Some of us prefer the Danish-German pastries more than the French cuisine although the immigrants closer to third generation via Ellis Island.
Reply to this comment
by occupy_cbs January 29, 2012 4:42 PM EST
No, history cannot be changed, just peoples' perceptions of it!
by occupy_cbs January 29, 2012 1:12 PM EST
Typical republicans, always 'trying to' re-write history and bring back the ghost of saint ronnie, despite the 1980's being the beginning of the end of the middle class and American exceptionalism.
Reply to this comment
by askagain January 29, 2012 1:38 PM EST
So there were no Democratic Presidents or Congresses since the 1980's. Talk about distorting history.
by occupy_cbs January 29, 2012 4:41 PM EST
No distortion at all bubba, just that the 1980's that the slimy salamander and the rest of the republicans want to re-live, was the BEGINNING of the END, as "supply side economic lunacy" gave us the huge income inequality we see today! Make it as partisan as you want, but even conservative republicans like Stockman and Bartlett tell us that today!


Tax Cuts And 'Starving The Beast'
by Bruce Bartlett

The most pernicious fiscal doctrine in history

http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/06/tax-cuts-republicans-starve-the-beast-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
by 1988JAck January 29, 2012 12:54 PM EST
What a bunch of idiots. Lies, lies,lies from the GOP.
Reply to this comment
by independent8 January 29, 2012 10:37 AM EST
Here we are down to two right wing GOP bozos: the Newt--a serial philandering, prevaricating, greedy "history" teacher who took 1.8 million dollars as a lobbyist for Fannie and Freddie; and Mitt--a guy who wants to cut taxes for the super rich (whose taxes are already at 40 year lows and are NOT creating jobs), raise taxes for the middle class, and who flip-flops on every issue...he can take three different positions on the same issue within 5 minutes. Both guys want to drastically cut spending in a bad recession, which will cause a depression. Each wants to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, the Federal Reserve, the EPA, birth control, abortion, etc. Now...who in the right (proper) mind could vote for either of these two clowns, other than the Fox right Wing News audience (which is only 3 million people)?
Reply to this comment
by samXXkiley January 29, 2012 10:20 AM EST
coucou,
****the former governor of Massachusetts released a new ad Saturday composed entirely of a clip of NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw reading news of ethics charges against the former speaker.****
=================
Newt Gingrich is a history buff, apparently his history catches up with him, lol!
"au revoir"
Reply to this comment
by drmaddogs January 29, 2012 8:56 AM EST
scribd.com/doc/58987915/FBI-Gingrich-Investigation
Reply to this comment
by burtwoody January 29, 2012 8:50 AM EST
It dosen't matter which one of these morons comes out ahead. The fact is, that Republicans don't have a clue and want to take this country back to the stone age. Either way, Republicans lose!
Reply to this comment
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