‘Stop-Newt’ Republicans Confront Base Unwilling to Take Orders

[pampango]

Two days after Newt Gingrich defeated Mitt Romney in the South Carolina presidential primary one of Romney’s big-name backers offered a grim prediction for his fellow Republicans.

“The possibility of Newt Gingrich being our nominee against Barack Obama I think is essentially handing the election over to Obama,” former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty told reporters on a Jan. 23 conference call. “I think that’s shared by a lot of folks in the Republican Party.” Pawlenty’s comments echoed those being uttered publicly and behind the scenes by elected Republicans, party activists, fundraisers and pundits, who represent a portion of the party establishment -- a “stop-Newt” caucus -- populated largely by people who have known the former U.S. House speaker for decades.

Romney’s campaign, backed by well-known party strategists and fundraisers, has kept up a steady rollout of endorsement announcements from Republican elected leaders that demonstrate his broad support among the insiders. As of Jan. 20, he had the nods of five governors, 14 senators and 59 U.S. House members. That compares with two governors and a dozen congressmen who have endorsed Gingrich, according to Democracy in Action, a political web site that tracks endorsements.

“There are a lot of major players in the Republican Party who are terrified about Newt,” said Gary Gerstle, a specialist on social and political movements a Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “At a more conventional moment in American politics, the establishment would count for a lot more, but this is not a conventional moment. There are now big segments of the Republican Party that will not bow down to the establishment.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-26/-stop-newt-republicans-confront-base-unwilling-to-take-orders.html

Reap what you sow, boys. Couldn't happen to a "nicer" group.

[barbtries]

1. their own damn fault.

seems to me that it is the same "base" that the "establishment" republicans were kissing ass to just a couple years ago. a logical result of a win at all costs mentality. now they're stuck with the nuts they pandered to then. boo hoo

the republican party is split and increasingly irrelevant. if only the media would catch on. anyhow it's good for democrats, and the country, that they can't get their act together.

[stlsaxman]

2. This can be laid directly at the feet of Rience Priebus...

Face it, GOP- he's no Howard Dean.

[izquierdista]

3. Can Newt destroy the Republicans before the Republicans destroy America?

Stay tuned for more exciting episodes!

[rocktivity]

4. And they said the Occupy/99 movement was a waste

They're dealing with something that no one expected -- a public that has been radicalized into realizing who the REAL welfare queens are.


rocktivity

[Ebadlun]

5. There's a lot of Fox hate at FreeRepublic right now

It seems the old guard are pushing Romney, and the Grinchies aren't liking it.

So double result - GOP fracture AND Murdoch loses viewers and power!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. To this I say just this:

I hope all of the Republicans get soaked in the bitter Tea they've been brewing since 2008-2009 in the November elections.