Sotomayor problem is very real, and Newt intends to ride it to the nomination
Gingrich thinks he's got a juicy issue here. If he gets her knocked out despite the mainstream party saying don't fight it too hard, he's their new leader and probably on his way to being nominated.
One can roll one's eyes and name-call all that one likes, but her statement is absolutely indefensible.
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." I.e.,
"A...Latina woman...would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male." Spoken by a Federal Appellate judge. [SEE UPDATE BELOW, MAYBE SHE DIDN'T MEAN IT THIS WAY.]
Gingrich says flip it and tell me it's not withdrawal material: A white guy will usually make better decisions than a Latina.
Out of context? Baaaah! Context only confirms her intent and damages her more; it's the conclusion at the end of an argument she's made; it's no stray remark and it has nothing to do with Latin cuisine. It's worse than Reverend Wright; the Reverend didn't say it, she did.
It can either be side-stepped as over-enthusiasm, flight of exuberance, slip of the tongue, or maybe she just meant to say something else. Those are all tricky; it was published many months after she gave the speech I believe. Did she have an opportunity to review the text before it was published? If so, she's in more trouble.
Repubs are scrubbing the landscape, you can be sure, for a time she may have repeated this to anyone or said something similar. Either way, many will at best feel queasy about her always. Newt is betting that the excitement over her will subside while that quote doesn't go anywhere.
Maybe people will tend to not much notice or just be caught up in the excitement, the historic nature -- not focus. Newt intends to prevent that by any means necessary. He's a full-time presidential candidate and this is all that he works on, every day and night. Apart from kissing the Puerto Rican vote goodbye, will it blow up in his face?
UPDATE: WAIT! I realize there is a softer way to read what she said, that didn't occur to me. I think the critics read it like this, which is how I understood it:
"If you take a Latina, and Latinas are mostly wise, she'll normally make a better decision than some white guy."
She may have meant this, though, as I think of it: "If you take a Latina who happens to be wise and informed by a variety of experiences, she'll probably make a better decision than a white guy who isn't so informed and maybe isn't so wise." So maybe this is the explanation and it just wasn't obvious to many of us in her phrasing. Then she's off the hook, as I see it.
One can roll one's eyes and name-call all that one likes, but her statement is absolutely indefensible.
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." I.e.,
"A...Latina woman...would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male." Spoken by a Federal Appellate judge. [SEE UPDATE BELOW, MAYBE SHE DIDN'T MEAN IT THIS WAY.]
Gingrich says flip it and tell me it's not withdrawal material: A white guy will usually make better decisions than a Latina.
Out of context? Baaaah! Context only confirms her intent and damages her more; it's the conclusion at the end of an argument she's made; it's no stray remark and it has nothing to do with Latin cuisine. It's worse than Reverend Wright; the Reverend didn't say it, she did.
It can either be side-stepped as over-enthusiasm, flight of exuberance, slip of the tongue, or maybe she just meant to say something else. Those are all tricky; it was published many months after she gave the speech I believe. Did she have an opportunity to review the text before it was published? If so, she's in more trouble.
Repubs are scrubbing the landscape, you can be sure, for a time she may have repeated this to anyone or said something similar. Either way, many will at best feel queasy about her always. Newt is betting that the excitement over her will subside while that quote doesn't go anywhere.
Maybe people will tend to not much notice or just be caught up in the excitement, the historic nature -- not focus. Newt intends to prevent that by any means necessary. He's a full-time presidential candidate and this is all that he works on, every day and night. Apart from kissing the Puerto Rican vote goodbye, will it blow up in his face?
UPDATE: WAIT! I realize there is a softer way to read what she said, that didn't occur to me. I think the critics read it like this, which is how I understood it:
"If you take a Latina, and Latinas are mostly wise, she'll normally make a better decision than some white guy."
She may have meant this, though, as I think of it: "If you take a Latina who happens to be wise and informed by a variety of experiences, she'll probably make a better decision than a white guy who isn't so informed and maybe isn't so wise." So maybe this is the explanation and it just wasn't obvious to many of us in her phrasing. Then she's off the hook, as I see it.
