In the GOP race for president, is Gingrich the tortoise and Romney the hare?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Newt Gingrich says he's the tortoise - and Mitt Romney is the hare.
The former House Speaker is comparing the Republican presidential horse-race to Aesop's Fable:
"The bunny rabbit runs by and falls asleep. The tortoise just keeps coming. So hopefully in this game, Mitt Romney will be the bunny rabbit and I'll be the tortoise. That would all work out perfectly."
And Gingrich has reason to be hopeful:
He's seen a jump in the polls - along with a spike in his fund-raising - in recent weeks.
Gingrich is now polling in the double digits, which puts him in third place behind Romney and Herman Cain in several national polls. He's also in fourth place in Iowa.
Gingrich believes there's a "big opportunity for an alternative candidate" since Romney seems stuck at about 25% in the national polls. And Cain risks fizzling out with recent sexual harassment allegations. Gingrich thinks there's more room in the race for him.
He has performed well at the eight GOP debates so far, acting the role of the elder statesmen while some of his rivals bickered with each other. He will have another chance when the Republicans again debate tonight.
Gingrich's campaign was left for dead by many in the Spring. Several of his advisers quit after he took two weeks off to go on a Mediterranean cruise.
Meanwhile, this Republican race has been a volatile one - with many conservatives hoping for "anyone but Mitt."
Several candidates have seen temporary jumps in popularity - from Rick Perry to Michele Bachmann and now maybe Herman Cain.
All the while other Republicans held out hope for a candidate like Chris Christie to run.
Here’s my question to you: In the Republican race for president, is Newt Gingrich the tortoise and Mitt Romney the hare?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would you rather listen to Palin or Gingrich make a speech?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sarah Palin didn't make a speech - but that didn't stop her from stealing the show at a big Republican fundraising dinner in Washington last night. The Alaska governor's appearance was a question mark up until the last minute... and followed weeks of an on-again, off-again saga.
Palin had originally been announced as the keynote speaker, but her office said she never confirmed the attendance. Later they wanted to know if she would speak at the dinner; party leaders said she could but then took back the invitation... worried that Palin would upstage Newt Gingrich, the new keynote speaker. Lots of drama.
But Palin, along with her husband Todd, got big cheers from the audience when they were introduced onstage last night; and their table was the only one in the ballroom with a crowd around it.
Several Republicans thanked Palin for showing up. Senator John McCain said it was great to see her, Senator Jon Cornyn praised Palin's leadership, and Gingrich said the U.S. "would be amazingly better off" had McCain and Palin been elected.
There's been speculation that both Gingrich and Palin might be interested in running for the White House in 2012. A recent poll among Republicans showed 21 percent backing Palin and 13 percent backing Gingrich.
Here’s my question to you: Would you rather listen to Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich make a speech?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why did Gingrich and Limbaugh change their tune about Sotomayor?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh - the Abbott and Costello of the Republican party - are dialing down their rhetoric when it comes to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Gingrich - who just a week ago called on the "Latina woman racist" to withdraw - is taking it back.
Cafferty: The kind stuff Gingrich and Limbaugh say doesn't make them very popular.
He now says his initial reaction to the judge's comments was "perhaps too strong and direct." Really... ? He says he shouldn't have used the word "racist" to refer to Sotomayor as a person - even if her words were unacceptable.
The other gas bag, Limbaugh, says he doesn't know why Gingrich retracted his comment. The radio host still believes Sotomayor would "bring a form of racism and bigotry" to the court. But Limbaugh says he may look past that and is now open to supporting President Obama's nominee if he can be convinced that she has a "sensibility toward life in a legal sense." He's talking about abortion here. What a guy.
Kind of makes you wonder who in the Republican party got to these guys. Senator Jeff Sessions - who had condemned the hateful talk - is praising Gingrich's decision to back off his "racist" comment.
Meanwhile it's clear that the kind stuff Gingrich and Limbaugh say doesn't make them very popular. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows Gingrich with a favorable rating of 36-percent, and Limbaugh at a measly 30-percent. When you compare that to Colin Powell - who gets a favorable rating of 70 percent - there's little question about which direction the Republican Party should be headed.
Here’s my question to you: What caused Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh to change their tune when it comes to Sonia Sotomayor?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Does it hurt GOP when right-wing critics call Sotomayor a racist?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The national dialogue just doesn't seem to get any gentler. Right-wing conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh are now out calling Judge Sonia Sotomayor a "racist."[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/28/art.gingrich052809.gi.jpg caption="Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is among several prominent Republicans who have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a 'racist.'"]
They are pointing to comments that the Supreme Court nominee made in 2001, when she said, "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.".
Gingrich goes so far as to say that a white racist male nominee would be forced to withdraw and so, too, should a racist Latina.
The White House is pushing back, saying it's important for anyone in this debate to be "exceedingly careful" in how they describe different aspects of the confirmation process. And Hispanic leaders warn that critics risk alienating Latinos if they appear to be judging Sotomayor before she can even defend herself; nominees traditionally don't say anything publicly ahead of their confirmation hearings.
As Ed Rollins writes on CNN.com, the battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party has now spilled over into this Supreme Court confirmation debate. He says critics who have been unable to attack President Obama think they can smear him with his court pick. But Rollins says there can be no debate over Sotomayor's qualifications, and warns Republicans that this confirmation "is not the battle to be waged and it won't be won."
Here’s my question to you: Does it hurt the GOP when Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh call Judge Sonia Sotomayor a "racist"?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Gingrich: Would have disabled North Korea’s missile
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
When it comes to North Korea's missile launch, Newt Gingrich says he would have disabled the long-range missile before it ever left the launch pad. The Former House Speaker says too many people "do not appreciate the scale of the threat that is evolving on the planet."
Gingrich says he hasn't seen the UN do anything effective with either Iran or N. Korea.
He adds that he hasn't seen the United Nations do anything effective with either Iran or North Korea. And he's right about that.
But the UN is the route that President Obama is taking. The State Department called the launch a "provocative act" in violation of a 2006 Security Council resolution; and said North Korea's action "merits a clear, strong response" in the form of another council resolution.
However, an emergency meeting of the Security Council ended yesterday without any official reaction to North Korea. And many U.N. security council resolutions in the past have proved not to be worth the paper they're written on.
Gingrich isn't the only one questioning if the Democratic administration is tough enough on national security. While the White House insists North Korea's missile launch shows the importance of President Obama's call for "a world without nuclear weapons," critics say that's an unrealistic and dangerous position.
John Bolton, former Ambassador to the UN under President Bush, describes president Obama's no nukes call as "otherworldly." Bolton says the threat of the Security Council has no real impact on countries like North Korea and Iran. Gingrich also called the president's plan for a Global Summit on Nuclear Security "a wonderful fantasy idea," saying Russia and other nations can't be trusted.
Meanwhile, the White House is pushing back against accusations of appearing weak, suggesting that the Bush administration's tough talk toward both Iran and North Korea proved ineffective.
Here’s my question to you: Newt Gingrich says he would have disabled North Korea's missile. Is that what the U.S. should have done?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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