Newt Filling Void of GOP Leadership

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich is back, and he’s here to stay. “It’s Gingrich time,” Paul Waldman writes for the American Prospect. That’s not a good thing, for the Republicans or the country. “This is Newt's time again not only because there's a leadership vacuum in the GOP but because the Republicans are back in opposition, and nobody opposes quite like Newt,” Waldman writes. “He is a master of the contemptuous sneer.” More»

Current Republican field riddled with weak spots

(NEWSER) - Republicans talk a good game about challenging President Obama in 2012, but the GOP would look scarier if it had even one legitimate challenger , says Dick Polman. "Obama's job-approval numbers are tepid these days—but he looks robust when matched against actual Republican challengers," warns the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist. "Not to mention the inevitable wounds and scars that any Republican will suffer during a primary season that promises to be downright Darwinian." More»

Chris Dodd, Barney Frank should pay for collapse, not Wall Street bigs: Newt

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich has an interesting idea for resolving political conflicts: Jail Democrats. That was the former House speaker's surprising recommendation in last night's GOP debate . The suggestion came up as he expressed sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying protesters have every right to be angry. But they should direct their ire at government officials, not Wall Street fat cats, he insisted. In fact, he added, top Democrats Rep. Barney Frank and former Sen. Chris Dodd, co-authors of financial reform legislation, should be jailed. "If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. And let’s look at the politicians who profited from the environment and the politicians who put this country in trouble," said Gingrich, who also urged "firing" Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner. More»

Despite its divisive nature, Republicans still fighting for Ryan's plan

(NEWSER) - Despite the five Senate Republicans who voted against Paul Ryan’s Medicare overhaul yesterday, the GOP remains wedded to the divisive, and increasingly unpopular , plan. Rather than back off, Republicans are responding by increasing attacks on the Democrats’ position, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We need to make it a choice between a do-nothing approach that will ultimately destroy Medicare, and life-saving reforms," says Rep. Tom Cole. Though the Democrats’ upset win in New York implies that the issue could have a big impact on future elections, Rep. Cliff Stearns insists it’s simply "a wake-up call on how you frame it. It obviously wasn't framed right.” More»

Ballot measure may not have enough support for 2012

(NEWSER) - In California, where Latinos comprise the fastest-growing portion of the electorate, some Republicans want their own version of Arizona’s controversial immigration law —but others disagree, and the party rift is threatening the measure’s chances of getting on the 2012 ballot. "It's completely counterproductive to the future of the party as well as counterproductive to the immigration debate and coming to a real solution," one GOP strategist tells the Los Angeles Times . More»