2012 GOP Presidential Campaign -- "This individual's going to accuse me of an affair for an extended period of time."

what's weird is before now I assumed mormons were all really good w/ language cause they attempted a hardcore immersion thing when abroad, but apparently huntsman speaks intro-chinese too

to be fair, mandarin is much harder

Govenor Romney parle français très bon.

no doubt - I could never learn chinese - but huntsman gets a 'fluent in chinese!' in every article about him when there's a lot of evidence to the contrary

oh for real? I guess I just assume that Chinese is so hard that seeing a non native speaker demonstrating any aptitude is p impressive

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/10/is_jon_huntsman_fluent_in_chinese_.html

oh, this is tooooooooo good (romney speaks french, for two-minutes; GOP base will loooooove that).

― Daniel, Esq., Monday, December 5, 2011 6:36 PM (2 hours ago)

this is incredble

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/10/is_jon_huntsman_fluent_in_chinese_.html

― iatee, Monday, December 5, 2011 7:37 PM (1 hour ago)

jeez this is brutal! he's pretty good for a white dude imo

you speak mandarin? that article's comments make it seem like it's possible the author is kinda full of shit too.

where's dayo

"jeez this is brutal! he's pretty good for a white dude imo"

don't you mean "pretty fly for a white guy"?

Todd

Todd, I know you're keeping it realness but you don't need to sign all your posts. Pretty much no one does it here...

you speak mandarin? that article's comments make it seem like it's possible the author is kinda full of shit too.

― iatee, Monday, December 5, 2011 11:15 PM (31 minutes ago)

ha no but i mean, no he's not "fluent" but like, it seems like he can carry a conversation somewhat

there don't seem to be any examples of that tho. I think he'd like to give the impression that he could just chat w/ a chinese politician without a translator instead of like, being able to say "hi my name is mr. huntsman"

Todd, I know you're keeping it realness but you don't need to sign all your posts. Pretty much no one does it here...

― Mordy, Tuesday, 6 December 2011 04:42 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

rip big jim swells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K8CGeC2M_U ha ha what a lil chiller

more Romney lolz

man this is gonna be one of the funniest campaign's ever if Newt pulls off the upset in the primaries

CNN commentator says Gingrich is cagily picking a fight with the Republican base's second--maybe even first--most hated Democrat

Not only that - by picking a fight, Newt also creates the impression that Democrats are afraid of him. Why else would they hint that they have damaging secrets?

yes, I smell a Nixonian attempt to play the victim. Stupid tactic by Pelosi, as far as it matters.

Pelosi's not stupid. she'll let this go until the time is right.

boosting newt's popularity among republicans is not a stupid tactic

I would say that is...a very not stupid tactic?

Right, maybe it's some kind of intellectual jiu-jitsu and Pelosi wants people to think she's afraid of Newt. Wheels within wheels.

It's not that complicated!

Right, maybe it's some kind of intellectual jiu-jitsu and Pelosi wants people to think she's afraid of Newt. Wheels within wheels.

maybe she just wants newt to win the nomination bc she thinks he'll be easier to beat than romney

it's not even subtext. she literally says that. "lol i hope newt wins the nom bc he'll be easy to beat"

But if she really wanted him to win, why would she say she has damaging secrets about him? Unless she wants people to think that she doesn't want him to win.

which will be a bigger lol when the Dow crashes next summer and Newt is prez, eh?

(just schadening the ultimate ILX rotisserie politics freude)

xp

she wants to foster resentment...that's the emotion the gop is built on

omigod we're in a semiotics course.

http://media.thestate.com/smedia/2011/05/13/18/111-The_Daily_Edit_05.14.110052.standalone.prod_affiliate.74.jpg

lol Alfred

“I like Barney Frank’s quote the best, where he said ‘I never thought I’d live such a good life that I would see Newt Gingrich be the nominee of the Republican party,’” Pelosi said in an exclusive interview Friday. “That quote I think spoke for a lot of us.”

Pelosi didn’t go into detail about Gingrich’s past transgressions, but she tipped her hand. “One of these days we’ll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich,” Pelosi said. “I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff.”

Pressed for more detail she wouldn’t go further.

“Not right here,” Pelosi joked. “When the time’s right.”

i think this is meant to be entertaining

Newt paid a $300K fine and was reprimanded by the House (the only time in history a Speaker has been reprimanded) for misuing campaign finds. Add to that his Freddie Mac lobbying and he'll look exactly like the 'inside-the-Beltway' operator the base professes to loathe.

I'm sure there's plenty other things to add to that pile

But if she really wanted him to win, why would she say she has damaging secrets about him? Unless she wants people to think that she doesn't want him to win.

― o. nate, Tuesday, 6 December 2011 18:10 (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

Because you learn to build something good up before you use it? TV shows don't throw out all their storylines within the first couple episodes - they build to the reveal to make it seem more important and/or hilarious. And when it comes to Newt, it should be pronounced HI-Larious.

honestly tho, newt has like 8 things on public record that could have taken down a politician

on the one hand I don't doubt that there are more, otoh what would it take to be 'shocking'? maybe he killed a dude

I think it's a very real possibility that Pelosi wants the base to be enthused about their candidate and then have him/her get kicked in the nads and leave them with either Romney who nobody loves or, possibly in a fit of pique, someone even easier to defeat like Gingrich.

From my anecdotal experience the Republicans I know are getting dispirited and embarrassed by their choices. They were (even the more rational ones) fighting mad a year ago. Now they're tired and uninspired. It's one thing to rail on about corrupt unions and politicians who don't understand basic (classic liberal) economics but now all their liberal friends are having a field day teasing them about Cain and Bachmann and Gingrich.

well you also know republicans who live in san francisco

honestly tho, newt has like 8 things on public record that could have taken down a politician

Maybe Newt has a bit of the "teflon" gene that Reagan famously had? If so, he may be a more formidable opponent than he appears.

like there are people who are probably isolated from the 'cain and bachmann are insane human beings' narrative

Maybe Newt has a bit of the "teflon" gene that Reagan famously had? If so, he may be a more formidable opponent than he appears.

haha – he doesn't and he isn't.

honestly tho, newt has like 8 things on public record that could have taken down a politician

on the one hand I don't doubt that there are more, otoh what would it take to be 'shocking'? maybe he killed a dude

― iatee, Tuesday, 6 December 2011 18:54 (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

oh come on, anyone on camera talking to him just needs to answer every question with "ok thats great but didnt you leave yr wife while she was dying with cancer to go be with yr mistress". every answer. just one time. one time between now and next november. they dont even need new shit. just actually play the old hits.

haha – he doesn't and he isn't.

^^^

Newt is a nerd who is pretty awkward/combative. Reagan was an actor.

Reagan's image was avuncular. Newt's image is all angry smartass.

This is very much a battle for the soul of the Republican party. Will it defer to its guts or its brains? The smarter Republicans out there know that the guts are notoriously impervious to reason, riddled with fear and loathing and not often appealing to a majority of voters. If you need any proof of what always tacking to the right gets you, just look at the GOP's standing in California. The last major position they held was by a movie star who parachuted into the governor's office via a recall, not by way of primaries.

My conservative parents, who after a 2008 filled with tumult and portents of doom, have not paid too much attention to primary season but they were embarrassed by Cain's non-response to the Libya question and Perry's fumbling. They have said many times that they hate every option.

This is very much a battle for the soul of the Republican party. Will it defer to its guts or its brains?

Not to be tetchy, Mike, but this is the sort of question TV pundits ask every cycle about both parties.

Reagan's image was avuncular.

This^^^

The Gipper could smile and tell an anecdote all while his administration was up to no end of mayhem. Newt actually likes being the smartaleck dick.

i don't feel sorry for conservatives who have no option, or feel like they don't.