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The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Newt Gingrich rallies Marquette students at Weasler Auditorium

Gingrich came to Marquette last Thursday as a campaign stop. Photo by Benjamin Gozun/benjaminmatthew.gozun@marquette.edu
Gingrich came to Marquette last Thursday as a campaign stop. Photo by Benjamin Gozun/[email protected]

In a campaign rally at the Weasler Auditorium Thursday night, GOP presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich emphasized his relationship to Wisconsin, stressing the Whitehall roots of his wife, Callista, and avoiding any mention of his GOP rivals.

Gingrich has been struggling in recent Republican contests, lagging behind the frontrunners, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.  In a Marquette Law School poll released March 27, Gingrich placed last among the major candidates, receiving the support of only five percent of potential voters.

Gingrich announced March 27 that he would scale back his campaign due to financial constraints, and would instead focus on winning the nomination at the GOP convention in August.

“Our only opponent is Barack Obama, and we are committed to removing him from the White House,” Callista Gingrich said.

Gingrich spoke on a variety of topics ranging from the role of religion in America to what he described as the incompetence of the federal government.

Recalling the first flight of the Wright Brothers, he stressed that it was not the government and congressional funding that created aviation, but rather the work of private individuals.

“You have a government (today) dedicated to the avoidance of innovation,” Gingrich said.

He concluded with a call for the introduction of private investment accounts as a an alternative to the current Social Security system, an idea that has been one of the focal points of his campaign. Gingrich said that had these accounts been introduced during the 1970s, the revenue generated would be enough to pay off the current national debt. ­­

After the speech, he answered questions from students and other members of the Milwaukee community. In response to questions regarding education, Gingrich said he supported a Pell Grant or voucher system for elementary and secondary education and denounced affirmative action policies.

“I believe people should be judged as individuals,” he said.

The audience left the speech divided, with politically active students’ minds seemingly unchanged. According to College Republican chairman and College of Business Administration junior Ethan Hollenberger, Gingrich was able to stand up to the occasionally hostile questions presented to him.

“He did a good job and was able to defend his positions well,” Hollenberger said.

But Rachel Contos, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences and a member of the College Democrats, remained opposed to Gingrich’s conservative proposals and denounced the candidate’s use of American history and religion in promoting his message.

“I think he distorted the message of the Bible and of the foundin­­g fathers,” Contos said.  “I think he has no sense of the people being born into a society.”

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  • W

    Wisconsin2013Apr 2, 2012 at 1:05 am

    According to an article by John Hawkins posted on March 30, 2012 on free republic website:
    Mitt Romney left office as governor of MA with approval ratings of 30%. Romney care was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state. He cannot carry his own state (MA) in the general. Republican voters still look for anti-Romney candidate. Voters do not gravitate to the “most moderate” candidate. He left office as the 48th most popular governor in America. He failed to capture GOP nomination in 2008. His money, organization advantage and inside the beltway mass media advantages’ will disappear in the general. For now, he is allowed to skate through without much scrutiny. Bain Capital got federal bailout of $10 million. Romney & others made $4 million in this deal. Mitt Romney excites no one except Mormons, political consultants & Jennifer Rubin. “More than 40 percent of Americans would be uncomfortable with a Mormon as president, according to a new survey that also suggests that as more white evangelical voters have learned White House hopeful Mitt Romney is Mormon, the less they like him”. “There will be Protestants who will have deep reservations about voting a Mormon into the White House because they’ll be afraid it will help promote what they believe to be a false religion. There have also been a number of polls that show that significant numbers of Americans won’t vote for a Mormon as President”. He is a flip-flopper. “There are a lot of issues with trying to run a candidate who doesn’t seem to have any core principles. It makes it impossible for his supporters to get excited about him because you can’t fall in love with a weathervane. Even worse, since politicians tend to be such liars anyway and you know Romney has no firm beliefs, it’s very easy for everyone to assume the worst. Democrats will feel that Romney will be a right wing death-beast. Republicans will think that Romney will screw them over. Independents won’t know what to believe, which will make the hundreds of millions that Obama will spend on attack ads particularly effective. Ronald Reagan famously said the GOP needed “a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors.” That’s particularly relevant when it comes to Mitt Romney who has proven to be a pasty grey pile of formless mush”.
    Please vote for the only genuine and authentic conservative candidate, Rick Santorum.

    Reply
  • W

    Wisconsin2013Apr 2, 2012 at 1:02 am

    Originally posted by Sidramone
    “Here’s what I don’t understand about the Romney campaign: They keep insisting that the race is over and that it’s time for Republicans to unify around a standard-bearer. Yet, instead of reaching out to Rick Santorum and his voters, they keep attacking him. And often in ways that border on the juvenile.
    For instance: Two weeks ago, the Romney campaign made a full-on assault by taking a Santorum line about the unemployment rate completely out of context and pounding it into the sand. Last week, they did the same thing with a Santorum line about the difference between Barack Obama and Romney. Here’s what Santorum said: “You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.”
    It’s pretty clear that Santorum is talking about how the general election should be framed for independent voters in order for Republicans to win. Now, here’s how the Romney campaign characterized his statement: “SANTORUM: IF IT’S NOT ME, LET’S RE-ELECT OBAMA.”
    And here’s Romney himself: “I am in this race to defeat Barack Obama and restore America’s promise. I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.”
    Then on Saturday, while Santorum was crushing Romney in Louisiana, the Romney campaign sent a spokesman to Santorum’s victory party in Wisconsin to bad-mouth Santorum to reporters.
    None of this is meant as a complaint about the Romney campaign—all’s fair, politics ain’t beanbag, etc. What I’m getting at is that either (1) The race isn’t really as over as the Romney people keep saying it is, or (2) The Romney shop has some interesting theories on how to convince conservatives to come home.”
    From The Weekly Standard.

    Reply
  • W

    Wisconsin2013Mar 31, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    How many times have we been told that Romney is a “presumptive and inevitable nominee?” The Establishment and other Romney supporters are trying to get rid of the other candidates whom they have been opposing from the beginning of the campaign. Rick Santorum is a cause candidate. If they don’t handle this issue wisely, there will be many voters who may even refuse to vote in the general. Romney is ignoring about 63%+ of the Republican base who do not trust him. No candidate can win without an excited base. John McCain lost the election in 2008, because Conservatives refused to vote for him. It is a very risky proposition to think that conservatives will vote for any candidate that won’t represent their values because of hatred for BHO policies.
    It is expected from all of us to tell each other the truth and try to have our country come out of its out of control debts, deficits and the gridlock we see in Washington D.C. Most people do not know that there is difference between being a conservative and a republican. There is a big difference. There are liberal/moderate big government republicans in the Republican Party who are simply different from Progressives in name only. There are conservative democrats, republicans, and independents. Instead of concentrating on petty issues such as wearing sweater or defending oneself against a misbehaving reporter, let us concentrate on major issues such as the candidates’ character & integrity and the relevance of their experiences to be a POTUS. Unlike Romney, Rick Santorum has a national security & foreign affairs experiences. Please read online the two acts he authored in 2004: The Iran Freedom & Support Act & the Syrian Accountability Act. Had someone implemented his plan, the current crisis what Iran would have been resolved a long time ago. He is the only one who can challenge BHO when it comes to national security and international affairs. In this volatile world, can we afford to have another novice (Romney) in the oval office? A POTUS is not only a Commander-in-chief of the US Armed Forces but a Chief Legislature. As Commander in Chief & the Chief Legislature, Rick Santorum can start working from day one unlike Mitt Romney. The President of USA has the following main functions: 1)He is the Chief Diplomat – he establishes policies towards other countries and speaks for our country; 2) As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he has the power to declare war with the consent of the US Congress; 3) He takes care of the national security of our country through the national security staff and other government agencies; 4) He suggests new laws to Congress; 5) A POTUS is expected to do what is in the best interest of all Americans. It is important to notice that a public office requires special skills different from private sector skills. A POTUS cannot & will not grow an economy and jobs. The mass media and Romney supporters & Romney tell us that private sector business skills are the most important tools to “turn” our economy around. Nothing is further from the truth. The history of past presidents with a private sector experiences show that most of them are not above average and some of them are at the bottom of presidential rankings. The mass media like controversies for their ratings. They would like to have candidates who have similarities so that the outcome of the election could be too close to call. That way, they make sure that so many people would be glued to their TV in order to have more viewers for their ratings. We need a candidate who is not similar to BHO to have a vital debate in fall. We have been told a lie that Romney “can turn our economy around.” NO POTUS has ever done & will ever be able to fix the American economy. Don’t simply take my words for it. Please let us start thinking for ourselves and save America from the brink of a looming disaster. So many people who voted for Mitt Romney believed the lie that he could fix our economy. This is a lie of greatest proportion and so many have not paid attention to it. The government affects a private sector by passing bad or good laws. Those who have been misled believing that a POTUS can turn around our economy and voted for Mitt Romney & the rest of the American people deserve an apology.
    The political leadership of the Republican Party presented Romney as an “incumbent president” saying he is a ‘presumptive and inevitable” nominee even before the IOWA Caucus. In order to discourage the remaining states from voting for Santorum, they have increased endorsements for Romney by the so called prominent figures of the Establishment and increase calls for the only conservative candidate who have excited the base and were able to win about 11 states against all odds. They have never been for him up until now. It is hypocritical on their part to ask someone whom they have never supported to stop campaigning. Along with some mass media they want to project Romney as already a “winner “based on a non-scientific delegate counts. Santorum has hired an expert in delegate counts and is expected to get more delegates from Florida, Arizona and other states. As getting delegates don’t follow a popular vote; and there are many uncommitted and super delegates, let us for now leave delegate counts to the Republican Party and focus on upcoming primaries. I urge voters not be misled by what they hear from the Establishment about a fictitious delegate count and ‘inevitability”. About 70% of the bases do not trust Romney.

    Reply
  • W

    Wisconsin2013Mar 31, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    1. Ron Paul wants prostitution and harmful drugs to be legalized at a state level

    As a libertarian there is no question that he supports legalization of prostitution and harmful drugs at a state level. I do not think the majority of Americans would any way support Ron Paul’s position on this. Prostitution and harmful drugs shouldn’t be supported at the federal and state level. Many marriages, personal lives have been affected by both prostitution and harmful drugs. Before of addictions there are many who couldn’t live a normal life. In the name of liberty, RP and others should not encourage a legalization of anything that destroys our fellow human beings

    2. He is anti-Semitic

    Your own comments and the comments made by Ron Paul and his supporters are a clearly testimony that RP is anti-Semitic. USA does not have any other democratic ally who shares our values like Israel in the Middle East. It is widely believed that we are the top beneficiary of Israeli’s research & development; intelligence etc. It is estimated by some that about 70% of the aids marked for Israel is spent in USA. I think you have misinformation about Israel’s history. Israel has been fighting a defensive war for its very existence since its inception in 1948 and then in 1956, 1967, 1973, intifada since the year 2000. How do you expect Israel to deal with the Palestinian Authority, which still maintains the destruction of Israel in its Charter? And Hamas wants all of Israel and the destruction of Jews all over the world. They teach in their schools that Jews are the descendants of pigs & apes. Thousands of rockets are fired at irregular intervals to Israeli population areas at irregular intervals. It is reported that RP supported aids to Palestinians. It is ridiculous that you try to compare liberals’ erroneous thinking as to what is racist or not to Israelis situation – under which nobody could live a normal & peaceful life. RP’s foreign policy is dangerous for US interests. He wants to threat a “nuclear Iran under theMADD (Mutual Assured Destruction Deterrent) nuclear policy, which worked well with the former Soviet Union (USSR). He is naïve to think that Iran, which strongly desires to bring back the Twelfth imam (Mahdi or Messiah (savior)) back by creating worldwide chaos through martyrdom to form a world-wide –caliphate. How can you deter one who believes to get more rewards through death?

    3. And a 911 Truther

    Bin Laden and others would like to tell us things they believe could be accepted in the west with a hope to weaken us from within. Please read about the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood from which Alqaeda originated. They want to form a world-wide-caliphate by forcing others (infidels) to believe in Allah thereby establishing Sharia Law. Without understanding the Muslims militant ideology, it is very easy to blame the USA as RP and his supporters do. Do not forget that there could many secularists in CIA who may not know about fundamentalist Muslim’s ideology. Because of our tolerance of diversified views due to our Judeo-Christian values in our country, there are many who assume that others are like us. Nothing is further from the truth. I appreciate if RP disassociate himself from those who blame America first for all of the attacks made against us. Beside this, why hasn’t Ron Paul come clean about his racist newsletters from which he benefitted financially and for which he was the author. Do you think Romney’sconsistent on various issues than Santorum? If not why do RP and his supporters continuously attack Santorum and not Romney? RP run on a libertarian ticket in 1988. His supporters openly say “If Ron Paul is not nominated; we will write-in his name or most probably vote for Gary Johnson”. RP has not ruled out to run as a third party candidate. Doesn’t this show RP’s dishonesty in pretending to be a republican in order to get a legitimacy to run a movement which in any way does not want to show its loyalty to Republican Party? If he runs on a third party ticket,he could take more votes from the democrats. Isn’t he hypocritical when he accuses Santorum for earmarks when he himself is a prolific ear marker (which he admitted during the last night CNN debate?).

    Reply
  • W

    Wisconsin2013Mar 31, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    What most voters may not know is the fact that be it at a local or national level there are big governments Republicans who are not different from Democrats. The RINos support Mitt Romney who opposed the 2003 Bush Tax Cuts; who supported the Bradley Bill (who wrote into law a permanent assault weapons ban); who in the past said “labor unions play an important role in our society”. Without the court order, Romney unilaterally ordered his state agencies to implement homosexual marriage. In 2002, Romney declared that “his only connection to the Republican Party in the state is “I am registered as a Republican”.
    Romney is currently supported by more than 390 lobbyist; the liberal wing of the Republican Party; the hired guns and consultants who want jobs in case he wins. The unexcited grass roots of the Republican Party and the TEA party are the most sincere patriots who would like to see a limited government; less government expenditure and fewer debts. In 1994, Romney lost big to Ted Kennedy due to his record in Bain’s capital and some unconventional practices of the Mormon faith – which Ted Kennedy used to ruin Romney’s candidacy.
    To know more about Mitt Romney, please go to this website:
    7 Reasons Why Mitt Romney’s Electability Is A Myth
    RightWingNews.com ^ | 27 Dec 2011 | John Hawkins
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2866165/posts

    Reply
  • W

    Wisconsin2013Mar 31, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    • littlebytes Stay at home mom of two young sons, tweeting and blogging about parenting to politics and everything in between.
    #tcot #prolife WHY NewtGingrich is not a friend of the Constitution&is a globalist,opportunist&untrustworthy for POTUS http://t.co/9mQJAUCK
    He made a formal appeal to the House of Representatives in 1995 to “increase the power of President Clinton” by repealing the War Powers Act. He praised Clinton’s unconstitutional use of the U.S. military to inflict a communist regime on Haiti in 1994, the same year he voted for an extra $1.2 billion for United Nations “peacekeeping” missions. He also urged the President to expand U.S. military presence in Bosnia the following year.

    In 1994, Gingrich described himself as “a conservative futurist.” He said that those who were trying to define him should look no further than The Third Wave, a 1980 book written by Alvin Toffler. The book describes our society as entering a post-industrial phase in which abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, and divorce are perfectly normal, even virtuous.

    Gingrich’s liberal voting record is that he has been a member, since 1990, of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a group founded in 1921 as a think tank of influential politicians and policymakers dedicated to sacrificing national independence to create a global government. He showed his fidelity to internationalism in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in July of 1995 when he brazenly admitted his disdain for our founding document.

    “The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution,” he (Newt) said. “Under our [constitutional system] – either we’re going to have to rethink our Constitution, or we’re going to have to rethink our process of decision-making.” He (Gingrich) went on to profess an oxymoronic belief in “very strong but limited federal government,” and pledged, “I am for the United Nations.”

    These are just some of the reasons I do not trust him as POTUS,but also I can’t trust a man with our country who took an oath to God and his wives to remain loyal&faithful. I couldn’t ‘marry’ him to our country and wouldn’t marry someone with this kind of character flaw. I can forgive the sinner,but not the sin. Forgiveness also does not equate to voting for someone with such great character flaws and a globalist agenda, which endangers US sovereignty. Santorum supports defunding the UN,which would be a great step in the right direction for the US.

    Character Matters,Along W/Faith,Family&Freedom-Support Santorum in 2012 http://t.co/CYKH4gY If Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul.
    Excerpt:
    … disloyalty or disunity&bickering and the media influence is why I believe Cain,Palin,Bachmann and Perry were thrown under the bus;conservatives& teaparty didn’t stand by the true conservatives from the beginning.

    Repost
    No body denies that Newt has good ideas. As a professor, he makes some high sounding and impractical suggestions like a moon colony. Those who closely knew him say he is erratic and frequently changes his mind. He was forced to resign in disgrace due to ethical charges. It is reported that he paid $300,000.00 for the cost of ethical investigation in which all of his fellow republicans voted against him. Why was he forced to pay $300,000.00 for ethical related charges if he had not done something wrong? He married three times and at the same time having mistresses on the side. Newt divorced twice due to infidelity. He has not come clean regarding the $1.6 Million he received from Freddie Mac. And so on…..
    Newt, Mitt and Obama have/had similar views: individual health mandate; the bogus man made climate change; TARP; bailouts. The candidate that can credibly challenge Obama on these issues is Rick Santorum.
    Please go to this website to know more about Newt.
    http://www.evidencetrumpscommonsense.com/2011/12/most-dangerous-man-in-america.html

    Reply