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February 10, 2012
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Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
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Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
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January 30, 2012
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Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
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Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
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Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
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January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
April 12, 2007
/ 24 Nissan, 5767
Gingrich and Thompson: The men who aren't there
By
Dick Morris & Eileen Mc Gann
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
These lines, by poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, might as well have been dedicated to Messrs. Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Hunter, Tancredo and Gilmore:
When I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I do wish he'd go away
But, in the case of the Republican presidential primary, there are two men who aren't there: former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.). But their presence or absence haunts the GOP primary nonetheless. Until they make their respective moves to enter or foreswear entering the primaries, they will freeze a critical segment of conservative Republicans who are withholding their affections from other suitors, waiting for Mr. Right to arrive.
In fact, most polls indicate that these two gents account for between 15 and 20 percent of the vote in trial Republican primary heats. Not since Gen. Colin Powell froze the action in 1996 (as he sold books and pondered running) has a non-entrant so paralyzed the active crop of candidates.
Conservatives find themselves facing an unpalatable choice of Giuliani, socially liberal but conservative on everything else, or McCain, socially conservative but liberal on everything else (except Iraq, where he is merely stubborn). Some even are voting for Mitt Romney, but most seem turned off by his Mormon faith. While this artifact of bigotry is obscene, it appears to be freezing the former Massachusetts governor below 10 percent in the polls. (His recent fundraising success might backfire if a large proportion of his donations are from his co-religionists, stoking the paranoia of some voters).
And, even worse, real conservatives like Huckabee, Brownback, Tancredo, Hunter, Gilmore and Tommy Thompson can't get their campaigns untracked because Newt and Fred are sitting on their potential voter base.
Thompson, at least, seems to realize that he is tying up traffic and appears committed to a reasonably prompt evaluation of his prospects and a decision on running. Newt apparently hasn't read the new calendar of primary elections and fancies that he can stay out until September before making a decision.
If Gingrich were to run, he would make an excellent sparring partner for Giuliani. Tough on terror and socially conservative, Newt's marital history is no more checkered than Rudy's. The big difference between them is that Rudy can beat Hillary and Newt can't. But his entry into the race, apart from making Hillary's day, would at least create a real choice among Republicans.
Thompson, who conceivably could defeat Hillary he is a blank slate at the moment would also be a strong candidate. He would immediately eclipse Romney and drive the anti-Giuliani social conservatives who are now backing McCain to his candidacy. It would be the classic media match-up: America's Mayor against the "Law & Order" prosecutor. Thompson's solid record of exposing corruption in Tennessee and prosecuting campaign-finance violations by the Clintons in Washington would be very attractive to voters.
But they each have an obligation to clarify their intentions. It is not fair or reasonable to palsy the process, as they are now doing, by having one foot in and the other one out of the circle. Beyond appeals to their sense of decency, always awkward in politics, they must consider that the ongoing speculation is not doing their ratings for decisiveness and strength any good. As Hillary marches toward the nomination, Republicans want a clear alternative.
In the meantime, their lack of decisiveness is making it impossible for any alternative to Giuliani to emerge as a conservative challenger. How long will social conservatives let these two men block the emergence of a right-wing alternative? How much patience are they supposed to have? If the right wants a Mr. Right to run, it needs to tell Newt and Fred: Either run or get off the pot.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Dick Morris is author, most recently, of "Because He Could". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
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