"I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leadership... I found it lacking often times....
"There's all types of leaders. Leaders that instill confidence. Leaders that are somewhat abrupt and brisk. Leaders that have one standard for the people they are leading and a different standard for themselves. I just found that his leadership lacking."
December 4, 2011
Senator Coburn finds it "difficult" to support Gingrich.
On Fox News Sunday:
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35 comments:
Gingrinch, huh?
Seasonal and Freudian.
Arrogant, self-absorbed, and hypocritical. Other than the R after his name he's the same as Obama.
Coburn is a rare pol who actually says what he thinks.
I wish Senator Colburn would get more specific.
... and who is he behind, if he doesn't like Gingrich?
@ndspenelli
Do you mean that in a good way?
Coburn is one of the very few people in DC deserving of respect. His integrity is such, I wish he were running for POTUS.
Hoc dictu, I have to agree with him. Newt's tenure as Speaker tended to be all Newt, all the time. He needed the face time the way Willie does.
Newt is a great talker. That seems to be enough in some Presidential campaigns lately. (See 1992, 1996 and especially 2008.)
KenK, Yes I did and not just based on this..the guy actually answers direct questions. The Republican rule is, never say anything against a fellow Republican." Coburn said "screw that" and said Gingrich is not a righteous leader.
I think we are about to have a "sea change" in politics, but people are still just milling around, so it may not be here until the 2016 lections.
Yes, I doubt we will see a "Newt the boyfriend" tag.
The broken hearts in 2012 will be a national disaster. I'm gonna be on the hunt for some rebound action.
I wish just once the big name R's would respond with "I will support whoever the nominee is". Life would be so easier.
It is good to speaks one's mind. It is even better to use discretion before you open your mouth.
I saw Coburn in the Tulsa airport about a year ago. He was quietly mixing with people as they would approach him and talk about what is going on in DC. He seemed like an incredibly decent person as I watched and observed him.
Leadership is about three things...
Competence
Confidence
and
Caring.
It's that last that separates mere managers and jerks from leaders.
Plus, the willingness to get out in front and take a few arrows in the back.
Althouse once mocked a crying Coburn.
She's proud of that.
"Althouse once mocked a crying Coburn."
Ha ha. Thanks for remembering. I never forgot it myself. He became "Cryin' Tom Coburn" in my later posts and I've continued to think of him like that. I hear "Tom Coburn" and I automatically think "Cryin' Tom Coburn."
"Would you agree that the opposite of being dead is being alive?"
Ha ha. He kills me. And yet, still, I live.
I'd support Merkel before I'd support gingrich.
And, as to germany ... Merkel is like hitler's mustache. Except her's is vertical. And, is her ass crack.
What surprises me is how easy it was to steal sovereignty from each of the 27 european "union" countries. They just don't squawk, over there.
But we've got 50 states! If the Feds just keep dealing with the DC to NYC "corridor" ... they're gonna be in for a suprise of their stinking lives.
When America began under her Constitution we did not have a Federal Banking System. (I'm not sure. But I think we got one only when Andrew Jackson became president.) Though there was plenty of debate, "pubius."
Posturing? Sure! The senate begains with "questioning" Jon Corzine. Who will take the 5th. It's an old show that won't garner much attention ... except in the "corridor of power" ...
That's why I want MORRY TAYLOR FOR PRESIDENT! He has an interesting approach.
Did you know you can get his book on AMazon? It's called "KILL ALL THE LAWYERS."
"The corridor" ... may soon fill will lots of dead bodies. And, a credential people running for office, will hide.
Newt the Kook.
Unstable. Deluded. ... Romney (or rather his surrogates) better go there, 'cause Obama sure will. It will be fun, fun, fun.
Gingrinch
I suppose we'd better get used to that again, because all Repubs will be tarred with it for years, whether they actually gut spending or not.
I assume Althouse just made a typo, however, cuz it's so 1994.
Lyle asked:
I wish Senator Colburn would get more specific.
... and who is he behind, if he doesn't like Gingrich?
How about Barack Obama. Jonathan Alter wrote about Coburn's deliberate interference in the 2008 Presidential campaign in his book, "The Promise: President Obama, Year One":
Now it was time to force McCain to compound his mistakes. Tom Coburn, the right-wing Senator from Oklahoma who struck up an odd friendship with Obama when they were both freshman senators in 2005, called to suggest that Obama and McCain issue a joint in support of Paulson's bailout.* Obama liked the idea and wanted to propose it first before McCain (who had also heard from Coburn) got the chance. if McCain jumped with him, it would take the issue off the table. He knew that if McCain agreed to a joint statement, it would prevent him from campaigning against the bailout, which was McCain's last, best hope for winning.
* In the senate in 2006, Obama and Coburn sponsored the so-called Google-for-Government bill that required the posting of government contracts on the internet. They and their wives had dinner together and liked to joke that Obama could muss Coburn's hair, but Coburn had no way to muss Obama's.
And guys like Coburn have been a HUGE disappointment themselves.
Supposedly a solid conservative, in actual practice, he (and other "solid conservatives") have been indistinguishable from bland plain half-melted vanilla Republicanism.
@ gadfly
It's not like Coburn and Obama would look like a hard act to follow. For myself, I can live with some Senator Kierkegaard R-Oklahoma.
Coburn remembers the old Newt Gingrich that I knew so well.
Has 15 years of learning taught the new Newt anything? Maybe.
Here's a thought, reading through this thread: a powerful Republican legislator has no problem with a weak, ineffectual president from the other party who claims -- actually claims -- to "lead from behind."
It is telling that so many of the people in Congress in the Republican Party that were under Newt as Speaker and later deposed him as Speaker do not want him anywhere near the Oval Office..
Oh, gosh, I wonder if Newt Gingrich has learned anything in the past 15 years?
Is there any way to find out?
Oh, IF ONLY there were some new, independent way to get information, that is not controlled by media gatekeepers! Something beyond glimpses in debates and talking-heads commentary on TV!
Oh wait!
My friend, there's no way to know if you support what he's proposing until you know what he's proposing.
Speeches on YouTube; Contract With America on the website; interviews; more than 25 books, including one called "Lessons Learned the Hard Way."
Respect yourself, inform yourself.
Smaller government, return to constitutional principles, transparency as to government spending and government decision-making, local solutions whenever possible, QI applied to government.
A shift back to original principles, returning power to the people and the states, constitutionally-based law and a shift in culture, made possible by the American people, not top-down by government. Choices: e.g. flat tax or regular tax rates; individually-owned social security account or stay in the system.
Only the American people can make this happen. Will we? Je ne sais pas, mes amis.
We can if we want to.
Time will tell.
a powerful Republican legislator has no problem with a weak, ineffectual president from the other party who claims --actually claims -- to "lead from behind."
Seven;
Did he actually say that or are you inferring that? Don't you think that if Newt got the nomination (doubtful) that Colburn would still support his Party's nominee?
It's just a thought. Virtually all Republicans will naturally support any candidate outwardly.
Speaker? I thought he was Prime Minister.
"Senator Coburn finds it "difficult" to support Gingrinch."
He doesn't look that heavy anymore. Sheesh.
Sorry he hurt your feelings Senator. I had hoped for more from you on a number of fronts.
You might recall why Lincoln liked Grant: at last a General who would fight. Newt sure ain't perfect, but he will take the fight to 0bama the forces of socialist-progressivism. We need to defeat the 0.
Even Churchill was willing to take Stalin as an ally to defeat Hitler. (Oh what, will somebody think I am comparing Coburn with Churchill? I just meant sometimes one choice is the lesser of two weevils.)
Senator: When will you do something so I won't need to hoard incandescent light bulbs? You do know that when light bulbs are outlawed, we'll all be dim-bulbs. Or something like that.
Even Churchill was willing to take Stalin as an ally to defeat Hitler.
It was a dumb move when he did it and a horrific blunder in retrospect. Just an awful example.
Here's what else Coburn had to say:
Coburn: "I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leaderhsip."
Wallace: "Why is that?"
Coburn: "Because I found it lacking often times."
Then there's the Politico quote Ann pulled. Following that, Coburn had this to say:
Coburn: "I'm not going to go into greater detail than that, and I think if you polled the gang, the group of people who came into congress in 1994 - which he did a wonderful job in organizing, he's brilliant, he has lots of positives - but I will have difficulty supporting him as president of the United States."
Ron Suskind's book showed and Tina Brown has recently argued that Obama is utterly deficient in providing leaderhsip. He doesn't hold his people accountable. He can't make a decision. He doesn't set a clear strategy. We all know what a disaster that has been. Gingrich doesn't have Obama's leadership shortcomings, but if he has his own personal set of issues, Republicans should be wary.
Washington insider v. Washington insider. How fascinating. NOT!Who to believe? We all know Newty has had his issues in the past. But what about Coburn and why won't he be more specific about the "leadership" qualities that he says are missing in Newt? Did Newt make Tom cry? Is Coburn judging based on what happened 2 decades ago, as if Newt went into some sort of extended hibernation after leaving the Speakership until now? Frankly, Newt has demonstrated leadership throughout the primary campaign. What about Coburn? Is Coburn near the end of his run? Is he Seniorstatesmanning/running for a post-public-service Important Well Paying Job? Is he working for Mitty? Is he working for some other undisclosed interest? The mere fact that one insider doesn't like another is not particularly revealing or interesting. But I'm quite sure they'll all come out of the woodwork now that Newt is setting the GOP establishment house on fire. Well, part of it anyway.
Coburn is one of the Senators who inspired confidence in the Conservative side of the political spectrum. That’s why I found his comment on Newt troubling, because I like Newt’s combative stance verses Democrats in and out of the media.
I think that I know what Coburn is referring to. Newt in person is much like Newt on TV: he can be abrasive. You may love it when he roughs up the arrogant a***ole in the press, but he’ll do the same to people on his side with whom he disagrees. I hope that it’s a characteristic that he’s learned to control.
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