What’s Happening with Conservatives and the Tea Party

by Art Kelly

1.  ConservativeHQ.com reports that Newt Gingrich met with 63 top conservative leaders for two and half hours and received a standing ovation for his remarks.

The meeting, held in Arlington, Virginia, was hosted by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, and Diana Banister of Shirley and Banister Public Affairs.

Gingrich said the presidential election was critical to America's future and remarked, "If Obama is re-elected, America will be a very, very different country from the one we grew-up in."

The former Speaker of the House said he expected his opponents for the GOP nomination to conduct negative campaigns, but he would maintain a positive campaign focused on conservative ideas.

The last issue of this newsletter reported that Congressman Ron Paul had launched what one nonpartisan reviewer called "an absolutely brutal" ad attacking Gingrich.

During the question and answer session, Viguerie expressed the belief that "personnel is policy" and asked about appointments to key postions in the White House and executive agencies.  Gingrich replied, "Mine is going to be a conservative administration.  I'm only going to appoint people who are willing to come in to implement our agenda."
 
Several people asked Gingrich his views on abortion.

He said he had a 98.5% pro-life voting record in the House of Representatives and that he was guided by the words of the Declaration of Independence that "…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…"

Gingrich concluded his remarks by asking the audience "to be with me--not merely for me--because, if you are merely for me, that implies you can vote and go home and expect me to fix things, but for this level of change to occur, I need you working with me every step of the way to make it happen."

At several points during the meeting, Gingrich's remarks received loud applause and, at the conclusion, he received a standing ovation.

2.  CBS News reported that Rush Limbaugh has signaled his support for Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination.

Limbaugh praised Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, as "the last person" who was able to cut federal spending and balance the budget.

3.  A new Gallup Poll has found that Republicans consider only Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney as "acceptable" for the GOP nomination, with all of the other candidates rated as "unacceptable" by more than half the primary voters.

Here's the national finding:

                                  Acceptable    Not Acceptable    No Opinion
Newt Gingrich                 62%               34%                    4%
Mitt Romney                    54%               41%                    5%
Rick Perry                        41%               52%                    5%
Michele Bachmann        37%               56%                    7%
Ron Paul                         34%               62%                    4%
Jon Huntsman                28%               58%                  14%
Rick Santorum                27%               62%                  11%

Among Tea Party supporters, here is how the candidates rate as acceptable:

Gingrich          82%
Romney          58%
Bachmann     52%
Perry               45%
Santorum       34%
Paul                27%
Huntsman     26%

4.  The GOP presidential candidates forum, hosted by Fox News's Mike Huckabee, featured questions, largely on constitutional issues, from three state attorneys general: Pam Bondi of Florida, Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia, and Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma.

Three separate analyses of this forum were provided by:

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com;

Mark Fitzgibbons, President of Corporate and Legal Affairs at American Target Advertising, Inc.; and

Jeffrey Rendall, a writer and editor at ConservativeHQ.com.

The next debate will be on Saturday, December 10, at 9 PM Eastern, from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.  It will be telecast on ABC.

5.  In CHQ's weekly presidential straw poll, nearly two out of every three voters supported Ron Paul.

"Ron Paul can't be stopped. After reaching a record high last week, Paul set a new straw poll record, claiming the support from nearly two out of every three voters (64 percent). It's clear from this poll that the grassroots are hungry for real talk on cutting spending -- not just more empty rhetoric.," said CHQ's Andrew Davis.

6.  Vote in this week's CHQ presidential straw poll!

With only a few weeks left until the crucial Iowa caucuses, it's time to start narrowing down the GOP field. Click here to show support for your favorite GOP candidate.

Click here for What's Happening with Seniors Benefits

Previous issues of both newsletters.

Follow Art Kelly on Twitter @ArthurKellyJr

Follow Richard Viguerie on Twitter @RichardViguerie