Pretty much as the tin says, Newt lost his first two runs for the sixth congressional district of Georgia to incumbent Jack Flynt. Jack Flynt decided not to run again in 78 and Gingrich defeated the Democrat he ran against. So, what if either Jack Flynt runs again and wins or Gingrich loses to his new Democratic opponent in 78 and after losing for the third time, Gingrich gives up on politics? What would the US be like without his Contract On America?
WI: Newt Gingrich's Political Career Is Stillborn?
- Thread starter Sevarics
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GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
As I remember, the "Contact with America" included ZERO SOCIAL ISSUES such as abortion or school prayer.
True but it resulted in the loss of the Office of Technology Assessment and other things
No Gingrich at all is huge. Gingrich worked tirelessly to turn the Congressional Republican Party into a consistent ideologically Conservative party and to discourage cooperation with the Democratic Majority.
The partisan bifurcation of Congress is in some respect his legacy.
You could argue other forces pushed that trend-but Gingrich was a key player in turning the Congressional Republican Party into what it has since become. He pushed that trend along years before 1994.
Even before 1994 no Gingrich almost certainly means Jim Wright remains Speaker-and there might be less dramatic Republican opposition to the 1990 Budget deal without him present.
The partisan bifurcation of Congress is in some respect his legacy.
You could argue other forces pushed that trend-but Gingrich was a key player in turning the Congressional Republican Party into what it has since become. He pushed that trend along years before 1994.
Even before 1994 no Gingrich almost certainly means Jim Wright remains Speaker-and there might be less dramatic Republican opposition to the 1990 Budget deal without him present.
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
This is a heck of a good article by The American Prospect looking back on the "Contract" from 2015 (American Prospect generally on liberal / left side of spectrum).
'Slightly condensed here for brevity's sake.' Mmm? It's actually a little hard to find the actual text of the "Contract with American," whether the sources be left, right, or center.
You might butterfly away his two biggest mistakes, the failure to strengthen the New Orleans's levy system,and the canceling of the space shuttle's replacements with newer shuttles (Metal fatigue was a major factor in the loss of Columbia)
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GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
Honest to gosh, I understand the loss of Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003, was because a known danger was discounted. Specifically, it was believed that foam strikes could cause nuisance damage but not endanger the mission. And on the face of it, it does seem ridiculous that foam coming off the large external tank could cause that much damage. Well, but it's dense foam, the whole shuttle is going faster higher, if the foam strikes the leading edge of the wing. And that's pretty much what happened.
Newt Gingrich boasted for 20 minutes on the floor of the House about defeating a bill that would have strengthened the hurricane defences of New Orleans to resist a category 5 storm.That came back to haunt him in the 2012 primaries against Mitt Romney. He also cut NASA's budget so they weren't able to replace the shuttles and had to use them past their life expectancy.I don't understand Gingrich connection with these two events ?
Archibald
Banned
Ah yeah, forgot that by 1994 with the conservative revolution GOP controlled NASA appropriations. Clinton (and his beloved Dan Goldin) however also cut NASA by himself. Budget was slashed by 20% over the decade of the 90's.
O really ? I supposed that happened before August 2005 ?
O really ? I supposed that happened before August 2005 ?
Newt was perhaps the key figure in the delegitimization of the American government in the 1980s and 1990s. Essentially he believed that if he could make the public hate Congress (via Newt breaking it) the Republicans could seize it via the backlash… he was of course entirely correct. He also nuked the size of Congressional staff & centralized control in the Speaker's office once in power to cripple elected officials, stamp out moderates and/or Republicans with brains and spines… and the functioning of the government by badly damaging the non-partisan independent bodies. All to give himself more power.
So yeah, no Newt means that ATL Republican takeover of the House somewhere in the 1990s is not nearly as weird/bad as it was, IOTL.
So yeah, no Newt means that ATL Republican takeover of the House somewhere in the 1990s is not nearly as weird/bad as it was, IOTL.
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If you look at everything people hate about our government today, Newt Gingrich is pretty much where it all started to go south. He mastered the art of personal politics, moving us away from a model where it was the issue that mattered, and toward a model where the focus was on the personal characteristics of your opponent. Instead of a culture where reasonable people who respected one another could agree to disagree, Gingrich established a culture where if someone disagreed with you, they were by definition A Bad Person - they were the enemy; someone to be destroyed, not negotiated with. No single man has done more to destroy our system of government, and if you take him out of the timeline, our current situation is inevitably very different - and arguably much better in many respects.
Archibald
Banned
Oh gosh, I knew Gingrich was rather... bizarre, but not that he was the root cause of the gridlock / non-partisanship that hurts the U.S political system so much.
Since he wanted a moon base at some point, I'll do my best to butterfly him in my space TL / utopia Explorers.
In a sense he polarized american politics... somewhat what Sarkozy did to my country from 2002 onwards.
Since he wanted a moon base at some point, I'll do my best to butterfly him in my space TL / utopia Explorers.
In a sense he polarized american politics... somewhat what Sarkozy did to my country from 2002 onwards.