2012 GOP race looks like 2008; Gingrich likely to drop out

In the wake of Super Tuesday, this year’s Republican primary is starting to look a lot like 2008.  In the primary of that year, initial results were also muddled with a large field of challengers.  This made the outcome unpredictable as large voting blocs split for different candidates.

 

(DonkeyHotey/Wikimedia)

Two of the current candidates were also in the 2008 final four.  Mitt Romney and Ron Paul were among the candidates that were not winnowed out after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in January.  Mike Huckabee and John McCain, the eventual nominee, were the other major players.  Alan Keyes stayed in the race until April, but received even less support than Ron Paul.  Rudy Guiliani and Fred Thompson, also candidates in early races, helped to further muddy the waters.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Republican field likely to thin after Super Tuesday – Atlanta Elections 2012 | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/republican-field-likely-to-thin-after-super-tuesday#ixzz1oTEZ6fS9

Mitt Romney is best choice for conservatives

(Donkey Hotey/Wikimedia)

The candidates are not the only ones flip-flopping in the 2012 Republican primary.  With the exception of Ron Paul, every candidate has led the field at one time or another as voters closely examine them and then move along to the next “flavor-of-the-month.”  The author is no exception, having leaned toward three or four different candidates in the past year.  I have never taken as long to decide who to vote for.  Now, with Georgia’s Republican preference primary looming tomorrow on Super Tuesday, voters in Georgia and nine other states are being forced to make a decision.

 

The four remaining candidates each have their own pros and cons.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Romney is best candidate for conservatives – Atlanta Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/romney-is-best-candidate-for-conservatives#ixzz1oGAmT3VY

New poll shows 3-way tie in Georgia

A new poll released Tuesday shows that the Republican presidential primary race in Georgia is a three-way tie. The new poll by the Fox Five and the Southern Political Reportshows Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum running neck-in-neck among registered likely Georgia voters.

Newt Gingrich placed first in the poll with 26 percent, but Romney and Santorum are both within the margin of error. Romney was in second place with 24 percent and Santorum placed third with 23 percent. Ron Paul was a distant fourth place with 12 percent. Earlier this month, the Atlanta Elections Examiner predicted that the Georgia presidential primary would be too close to call.

 

Read the rest of this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/new-poll-shows-three-way-tie-georgia-primary

 

2012 voter guide: Newt Gingrich

(Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia)

Campaign website: newt.org

Supporting PAC: winningourfuture.com

Ga. website: newt.org/states/georgia

Biography:  Gingrich is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives from Georgia.  Read his full biography by the Atlanta Conservative Examiner here.

Taxes: Newt Gingrich would make the low Bush-era tax rates permanent. He would also create an optional flat tax with a 15 percent rate. This tax would preserve the home mortgage interest and charitable deductions, as well as establishing a $12,000 standard deduction.

 

Read this article on Examiner.com:  http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/2012-voter-guide-newt-gingrich

Who will benefit from Cain’s collapse?

(IowaPolitics.com/Wikimedia)

Herman Cain’s presidential campaign will likely collapse soon under the accumulated weight of sexual harassment charges, ill-advised remarks, and a lack of foreign policy experience.  As the current favorite of the “anyone-but-Romney” wing of the Republican Party, the Georgia businessman’s decline will leave many voters up for grabs.  The question is who is most likely to benefit from Cain’s misfortune.

 

Cain captured frontrunner status from Rick Perry after Perry’s lackluster performance in several debates.  By now, it is becoming more and more apparent that Perry would not be a formidable opponent to President Obama in the general election.  This realization is seen in the Real Clear Politics average of polls which showed Perry’s support plunge to ten percent from a high of 31 percent in September.  Perry’s introduction of an optional flat tax plan has not stopped his slide in the polls.

 

Read this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/herman-cain-s-misfortune-may-benefit-another-georgian

 

Newt Gingrich (Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia)

Newt Gingrich is a transplanted Georgian who was born and grew up in Pennsylvania.  Born in 1943, his birth name was Newton Leroy McPherson.  His mother and father divorced after a marriage of only a few days.  Newt’s mother remarried to a career army officer, Robert Gingrich, in 1946.  Gingrich adopted Newt and the couple had three daughters.

 

The family moved frequently as the senior Gingrich received new assignments.  Newt graduated from high school in Columbus, Ga. in 1961.  He graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in history in 1965.  He earned a Master’s and Ph.D. in modern European history from Tulane, graduating in 1971.  After earning his doctorate, Gingrich returned to Georgia, where he taught at West Georgia College in Carrollton from 1970 to 1978.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Meet the candidates: Newt Gingrich – Atlanta Elections 2012 | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/meet-the-candidates-newt-gingrich#ixzz1QDSA1zBT

Part 2:  “Gingrich closet holds several skeletons“

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How a government shutdown might affect you

Diliff/Wikimedia Commons

As the debate over control of the federal budget speeds the government toward a shutdown this weekend, many Georgians are likely wondering what effect a shutdown would have on local services provided by the federal government. The federal government pervades American life at all levels from mail delivery by the postal service to government checks for Social Security recipients and, most obviously and importantly, protection by the U.S. military and federal law enforcement agencies.

Read the rest of this article at Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/how-a-government-shutdown-might-affect-you