Gingrich Threatens to Boycott Debates Without Applause
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Tuesday warned that he might not participate in future debates if moderators didn't allow his fans to cheer.
NBC News had asked the audience at Monday night's debate in Florida to hold their applause until the commercial breaks -- and Gingrich was perceived to have done significantly worse than in previous debates.
"I wish in retrospect that I had protested when [NBC moderator] Brian Williams took them out of it," Gingrich told Fox News Tuesday. "I think it's wrong. And I think he took them out of it because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they've done in every debate."
"We're going to serve notice on future debates. We're just not going to allow that to happen," he added. "That's wrong. The media doesn't control free speech. People ought to be allowed to applaud if they want to."
Gingrich's performances at debates in South Carolina were thought to have contributed to his landslide victory over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in that state's primary.
A survey (PDF) released Monday by the Democratically-affiliated Public Policy Polling (PPP) firm showed Gingrich leading Romney, 38 percent to 33 percent. Gallup's daily tracking poll on Tuesday indicated that the two GOP candidates were in a virtual tie nationally.
But it could be advisable for Gingrich to get used to debating without the comfort of audience reaction. In all three of the 2008 general election debates between then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama and then-Republican nominee John McCain, audiences were asked to refrain from making noise.
Feel free to stay home, you doughy sack of sanctimonious bile.
HA HA gingrinch!
He can't turn a 'debate' into a rally, so he is better off not showing up - i agree!
You will not be missed, puffy!
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Has anyone noticed what a downer thiis man is? You only have to listen to his rhetoric and look at his dour face for one minute before you begin to feel depressed. Where is the message of a better America?
Gingrich has poisoned the well of politics since he arrived on the scene, with his own brand of Dick Cheney politics. To make matters worse, he would throw this country under the bus and start a war with Iran just so Jewish doners will support his campaign.
don smith
Boycott the debates and miss all that free air time, I doubt it. He's just threatening because he wants his cheering squad back. Without them, he's just another boring man on the stage making sounds with his lips.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Now THAT'S funny. He knows all his has is dog-whistles and one-liner bait meant for frothing right-wingers. If he didn't have conservatives applauding and jumping off the walls whenever he talked about making poor kids do janitorial work, he'd sound like a moron. Not to mention it wouldn't feed his massive ego if no one worshiped him.
It's like when a crappy comedy needs a 'laugh track' to get by.
Have you ever watched an episode of 'Friends' with the laugh track removed? - PATHETIC!
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
I've watched a few minutes here and there with laugh tracks, and it was still pathetic.
I really never understood what people saw in that show?
Thirty somethings living the way I did as a freshman in college.
Pathetic indeed.
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
they need to put in a laugh track!....Brilliant!!!
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, which handles the general election debates, and they confirmed that audience participation has not been allowed in the past in debates, and will not be allowed this cycle either. So, if Gingrich is the GOP nominee, he’ll have to face a silent audience during his debates with the President unless the rules are changed.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Newtie is going to take his ball and go home (sad face)
He ditched his wives when the applause stopped too. Will this be the opportunity Buddy has been waiting for? He's been a debate understudy for so damn long.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
that was a good zing, props
Seems to me that asking an audience to restrict applause to commercial breaks isn't much different than those free speech zones (aka corrals) that conservatives employ when they make public appearances.
These debates are not run by the government, therefore freedom of speech isn't at issue. Secondly, I thought these were supposed to be debates, not sporting events.
These events will turn into mob-scene-rallies if both sides have to get their followers to stomp & shout the loudest after every question. It would degrade the dialog enormously.
And it's not a free-speech issue. People having free speech doesn't mean they automatically get to hoot & howl at other peoples' organized events.
Newt knows this. This is just an appeal to pure demagoguery in order to press his advantage - i.e. he has the most howler-monkey followers in the audience. He doesn't care that it would ruin one of the few positive traditions in American electoral politics. He's a jackass.
A man who picks up a cat by the tail .. will find knowledge that cannot be gained in any other way - Mark Twain
And see if we give a shit if we miss your arrogant fat ass. We won't. You're like a petulant, spoiled child that needs to go to time out.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
he's always on the t.v. talking about how the media treats him unfairly.
narcissistic sociopath
The problem here is much deeper and reveals a serious flaw in the cognitive capacity of Republicans.
Laugh-Track Republicans Need Debate Audience To Tell Them What To Think
The story linked above has examples of prior incidents where GOP audiences had to depend on the emotional cues from other audience members to know what they were supposed to think. And the right-wing media is complicit in this effort to guide the reactions of viewers.
It's hilarious in a frightening way.
NPR?, from South Florida University, and he said that the debates had literally shut down the university for weeks prior due to security etc. He said that the candidates campaigns "took over".
He said it was impossible for any "student" to even get in to the debates. All tickets were given to the candidates and their "insider" locals and dignitaries who wanted to attend. It was essentially closed.
It seems to me that anyone wishing to attend the "debate" who lives in that geographic area and is a registered Republican (or Independent) or which ever party is allowed to vote in that particular primary should enter themselves into a lottery and who ever gets the tickets gets to go.
But, alas, just as the Republicans and Democrats took over the "debates" from The League of Women Voters years ago (when they were exciting! with third party candidates etc.), and formed the "Commission on Presidential Debates", it seems every part of the political process from the media on down is becoming more and more sterile and Stepford-like every day.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
its called group think. newt knows all about it.
A herd of cattle watching four of their own in a farting contest , the winner to be leader of the herd .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Bullshit, there is no fucking way this asshole will boycott the debates. He is too much of a narcissist to miss anything that panders to his sense of ego. The fuck. He is such a blowhard. Always has been, always will be. And is completely full of shit besides.
A debate between Santorum, Paul, and Romney would be far better anyway. I'd watch that before i'd watch Puffy be obnoxious another time.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Newt will only have debates that contain screams of racial violence- http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39808... Like he had in South Carolina!
Newt.
"When you're president -- as opposed the head of a private equity firm -- your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot." - President Barack Obama
Fucking WATB. Do we really want government by tantrum? That is what this fucking asshole would give us.
Can't you see newt as the one to deal with world leaders? Can't you just see him as the face of the US to the world? I can't either.
Newt meeting with world leaders................just before he gets punched in the face.
The first casualty of republicanism is the truth.
Party politics are not only undemocratic, they are antidemocratic.
Remember what happened last time Newt got left off the plane?
In the unlikely event Gingrich ever gets elected, it will be time to batten down the hatches, as there will be incoming.
Newty shut down that US Government because Clinton wouldn't let him ride shotgun in Air Force One.
Sent literally millions of workers home without pay because his feeling were hurt.
Without the applause to make him look like a hero there is no hero. Without the applause ,with his words naked, he actually sounds kinda silly, unserious and egotistical.(ok he always sounds like that but much more so without the cheers.)
have you ever watched newt on mute?
creepy, scary stuff there--like something out of a francisco goya black painting, newt devouring his face, or something like that
"I think he took them out of it because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they've done in every debate."
The GOP audience at these debates has routinely cheered for disgusting things, like letting sick people die if they can't afford treatment. When they do things like that, it gets attention, and this forces the media to comment on the fact that the GOP base is effing nuts and sometimes downright evil. The media knows that pointing out this obvious fact will destroy any illusions that we live in a country with two responsible and reasonable parties. If the media is forced to admit that yes, one party is effing crazy as made clear by what they cheer for, the GOP will counter that is proof that the media has a liberal bias. The media HATES being accused of that. They fear it. They'd rather hide all evidence that the GOP is made up of insane people instead.
I think there's some truth to that.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
the audience reactions (the cheers [for the death penalty], the outbursts [to let people w/o health insurance die], the boos [when hypocritical statements are illuminated]) have been terrible for the GOP. sure, the knuckledraggers who agree with the most extreme rightwing rhetoric might not be bothered by the scary debate audiences, but it seems that the more the far right GOP debate crowd shows their true stripes the more moderates, indeps, and others will slowly back out of the room.
yes, let the audience do what the audience does. don't let newty take his ball and go home (as if)
Let my people adore me.
far left loon >.<
What's next, Mr. Speaker? An endless audio loop of applause and laughs?
You have the nerve of the devil. And more than a bit chootzpah. How's my spelling, Michelle?
Gingrich is all for Republican crony free speech. But you may remember he has a different take on Occupy free speech. I would take his remark as a dare and hold the debates in a closed auditorium so they will actually say what they mean (maybe) without hedging their remarks based on the audience reaction. It's a debate you jackass not a speech. If it were a speech you would be getting paid for it. Lets test his convictions and see if he will stand by the bull$hit that spews from his blowhole.
There's nothing this guy won't do, is there? Nothing is too low or too vile.
far left loon >.<
Ham actors of old used to hire claques who would applaud even their most wretched performances.
Newt would never in a million years be considered to be 'winning' a debate without his applause lines to his knee jerk audiences. He would simply look like the self-contradicting, irrational, deeply illogical man he is.
That is why he could never best Obama in a debate: without his claque, he would look like the monkey that he is, and no fawning reporters could claim he 'won'....
MyMy
Newt understands show biz and salesmanship, yet he remains devoid of psychological self awareness at the same time. I guess he can get away with it because his target audience is just like him.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
How about hisses?
n/t
Breaking wind.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
Personally, I don't see the point in having an audience at all. It's a televised debate. Why should there be an audience?
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
n/t
Good point. It's not the Apollo theater or the Roman coliseum. No peanut gallery needed.
I don't believe in God. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life.
-Andrew Carnegie
To Boycott Shout Down Without Reach-around.
The first casualty of republicanism is the truth.
Party politics are not only undemocratic, they are antidemocratic.
Turn it over to the League of Womens' Voters, like it used to be.
Just because some racist cracker can dog whistle his fans into a foaming at the mouth horde doesn't mean that he made a salient point.
But the Chuck Todds of the ratings whore for profit "news" and info-tainment outlets love this kind of horse race coverage, and ignore anything of substance. Like WHAT IS THIS GUY'S POLICY PLATFORM???
Newt is running for Whiner in Chief. I am sure Paul, Santorum, and Romney would really miss him.
He will insist on a quiet audience.
... 'cause Mittens is ripping him a new one, for what was LONG TIME COMMING to him: Exposing him for the "FOR HIRE Politician" that he is.
... and the natural reflex IS: to take it out on those who ask him questions ... you know the media !
Get your lemonade, watch the traitors hang
Congress' TREASON have no boundaries, so does M$M's brainwashing/sidetracking
Republicans for Voldemort
Government does work, just not for YOU. Government work ONLY on the behalf of the Tycoons
Repeal stupid
What a child. Then again, most conservatards are.
I don't believe in God. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life.
-Andrew Carnegie
If Romney were a better campaigner than he's making himself look, he'd counter-demand that all debates be done with a quiet audience, or with no audience at all, as a silent dare to Gingrich to follow through with his whiny threat. I agree with the folks above who say no way would Gingrich ever go through with it. And if he does, hey, Romney would be happy, that's for sure.
Without applause and public adulation, he'll curl up and die.
Take your bimbo and go home, Slug.
They cheered for Ron Paul after what little time he had to answer the questions.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I'm for letting the morons cheer - under one circumstance.
That we be allowed to strap lie detector electrodes to the scrodum and nuts sack of these GOP clowns, which will deliver a massive jolt of electricity every time one of them lies or obfuscates.
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
"But it could be advisable for Gingrich to get used to debating without the comfort of audience reaction."
I guess the white hoods he wanted them to wear are out too, huh?
crush_ed limp_balls and other hate radio talk merchants were swooning over the reactions to newtie's ra_cist comments. crush couldn't get over the "standing ovation" s that newtie got by not answering a simple question and having the audience applause his attack dog mentality. newtie could just go on attack after attack, and the re_pugs eat it up. It shows where these people truly stand.
I am sure he can find a royalty free laugh-track online.
Fucking Clown.
Does he tape his evenings at home?
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
I dont know about anyone else, but the constant coverage of every repbulican pecadillo, pronouncement and poot is getting very wearisome.
Isn't about time to move into the "ignore them and get things done" phase - both for activists and Obrother?
Let's start making news about the good things, the positive initiatives, the things Obama is going to do with a second term. Let's petition a laundry list; some unfinished business, some new busines, some put up or shut up.
Just sayin'. . .
cause Nancy Pelosi says, "Gingrich will never be president. It will never happen".
Apparently she knows something the rest of us don't. Come on Nancy.....do tell!:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/0...
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Puffy is hated by the republican rank and file. He was booted out of congress in the 90s.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
I forgot about that threat! If I remember right Newty threatened to charge her or whatever for breaking confidentiality when she threatened this a while ago. This could be good!
I hope this doesn't get traction for a while so we can get the maximum embarrassment out of it.
Emboldened by the reinforcement of his hate.
Gingrich, the Beelzebub of politics.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
President Gingrich ! Sounds sweet doesn't it ?
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Gingrich sounds like something you don't want to find growing on the underside of your nutsack when you come out of the shower.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
At first glance I thought it said:
Gingrich Threatens to Boycott Debates Without Applesauce
Applesauce, applause...either way, if he doesn't get what he wants, maybe next he'll try holding his breath...
was as brave as they want people to believe they are ,they would have ignored the wishes of the network. But they are not, they are just sheeple following Newt around like he really matters.
I can assure you that in the next debate there will be "SPONTANEOUS" cheeing in the audience. It will be well rehearsed.
With the latest 5mil that Spewt got from his personal Casino industry he could buy a block of seats at the next debate for his Newtards.
Ha ha Spewt doesn't want to tie the hands of his racist inbred ignorant supporters. Now that Rick Perry is gone the more vocal morons and dimwits can't cheer the death penalty. Awwww. I'll bet Newt was bummed because he didn't get to slam the poor or blacks. Hey Newt how about giving white trash a thumping? No? Think that would rule out future potential sex partners? Awwww.
Just setup a full length mirror so Newt can eye the eye of newt.
Nancy Pelosi stated that Newt Gingrich will never be president in an interview that was posted on The Huffington Post, and she seemed to indicate that the public record on Gingrich's Ethics violations in the 1990's would be the source of this damning information.
I don't think any level of hypocrisy will be sufficient to dislodge him. We have known since the Clinton impeachment that he was humping the third Mrs. Gingrich while still married to the second while trying to get rid of Clinton for lying about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.
I started looking at Volume One of the Public Record of the investigation into Gingrich, GOPAC and the rest of it, and early on, the report states that, in 1994, Gingrich wrote to the Ethics Committee that he did not think that his involvement with GOPAC, his college courses, and the rest, served "partisan, political" objectives. In 1995, he had his lawyer reiterate this in another letter to the committee's investigators.
In 1996, in testimony to the committee under oath, he admitted that this previous position was a LIE.
Gee, another parallel with Bill Clinton's impeachment: I don't remember reading about this little tid-bit anywhere. I wonder how many more nuggets there are that I don't have the time or patience to find?
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