Trump Bows Out Of Newsmax Debate

Real estate mogul Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will no longer moderate a debate sponsored by the conservative magazine Newsmax.

In a statement, Trump said that the decision was necessary in order to keep the door open for a possible 2012 run.

“It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate,” Trump said. “I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again!”

Trump noted that several candidates were unwilling to appear unless he formally rejected a White House bid.

Tapping Trump as a moderator garnered criticism from some candidates and pundits right off the bat. Long shot GOP hopeful Ron Paul, who had previously feuded with Trump, immediately announced that he would not be attending the debate, claiming Trump’s involvement was beneath the office of the Presidency. Eventually, participants dwindled, with Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum as the only candidates slated to appear.

The debate was scheduled for December 27th, just days before the Iowa caucus. According to Trump, the discussion was poised to have been “the most watched” debate this campaign season as well as “the most substantive and interesting.”

Gingrich Pledges No Negative Advertising

In a letter to supporters Tuesday, Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich promised that his campaign would not run any negative ads against fellow Republican candidates.

“It is critical the Republican nominee emerge from this primary campaign un-bloodied, so that he or she can make the case against President Obama from a position of strength,” Gingrich said. “We will run a positive campaign focused on our country’s future.”

Gingrich took the pledge one step further, saying that he will both instruct his campaign’s surrogates to remain positive and discourage supporters from contributing to any third party organizations that plan on attacking his GOP opponents.

The former Speaker of the House added that he hopes his fellow Republican candidates will likewise withhold from attacks.

However, despite pledging to remain positive, Gingrich did add one small caveat, to his overall plan.

“I have reserved the right to respond when my record has been distorted,” Gingrich said.

This is not the first time Gingrich has urged his colleagues to refrain from attacks. During the Republican debates, Gingrich often turned down opportunities to knock his opponents and instead scolded moderators for attempting to sow division within the GOP ranks.

LISTEN: Gingrich, Huntsman Dish On Foreign Policy Affairs

MANCHESTER, N.H. — At a foreign policy forum at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, GOP presidential rivals Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman agreed on most of the issues, including what the U. S. should do about China.

Gingrich, the former House Speaker, said America may soon get its competitive edge back when it comes to making goods.

“A study by a Boston firm says that by the year 2015, manufacturing costs in South Carolina and Alabama will be cheaper than they are in Coastal China,” he said.

Gingrich adds that if the United States doesn’t work to secure its own institutions and begin being fiscally responsible, the U. S. will not be able to compete with China.

Huntsman, the former U.S. Ambassador to China, said that China has significant interests in Indonesia, Pakistan and Burma. For the U. S. to get a jump on China and to regain its competitive strength, the country must have a dialogue in China to determine what China is after in the Pacific rim.

“We need to figure out where they’re allocating their defense expenditures and their other resources. We really don’t know very much about that,” Huntsman said.

Gingrich added that China’s developing ties with Iran presents another strategic challenge to the U.S.

Iran was also a frequent topic during the 90-minute forum.

Huntsman called Iran a major threat, and said that he believes President Obama missed an opportunity after the Iranian elections in 2009.

“We went into Libya where we have no strategic interest. We were looking at Syria. But this president missed a great opportunity in the Persian Spring in 2009,” Huntsman said.

“The centrifuges continue to turn and I believe the Mullahs in Iran have decided that they want to be a nuclear nation,” Huntsman said.

Gingrich said that Iran was behind many attacks while U. S. officials ignored Iran’s actions.

“They were behind the bombing of the Marines. They were behind the bombing of the Khobar Towers. They were behind the embassy bombings in Africa…But still U. S. officials were in denial and tried to walk away from the reality that Iran has been at war with the United States since 1979,” he said.

The debate later pivoted to Israel, an ally that Huntsman defended on several fronts.

“There is an economic component, a strategic component, a values component and I believe a regional stability component,” he said.

Gingrich said that no Israeli Prime Minister can tolerate a nuclear Iran because no Israeli Prime Minister wants to allow a holocaust of Israel. The GOP frontrunner also said that Israel will ask for U.S. help in defending itself in the near future.

“The time is rapidly approaching for the U. S. President to have to make that decision,” Gingrich said.

Both of the candidates stated that the biggest threat to Israel is Iran.

Southwest Asia also came up in the forum, with both candidates agreeing that a better relationship with India is the remedy for an increasingly unstable nuclear Pakistan.

TRNS’s Michael Carl has more on today’s debate:

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New Hampshire Group Makes War On Voter Apathy

By Michael Carl

A month before the New Hampshire Republican Primary, voter activist group, the Southern New Hampshire 912 Project has put together what they call their Candidate Matrix, a 34-page booklet listing the Republican candidate’s positions on the major issues.

The guide includes the candidate’s positions on economics, trade, foreign policy, the Second Amendment and health care.

Southern New Hampshire 912 Co-Founder Ken Eyring says, in his own words, he used to be part of the problem.

“I used to be part of the problem. I used to help put people in office and I didn’t even know their positions on the issues,” Eyring said.

He says his group wrote the booklet to inform voters so the system can work.

“Representative government is supposed to be that. But the system can’t work unless we put people in office who truly represent our values,” Eyring said.

Eyring adds that for the general election, they’ll include President Obama.

A sidewalk survey of New Hampshire voters reveals that Eyring’s group has its work cut out for it.

After being asked what she knows about the candidates, one woman who didn’t give her name said, “Not much.”

She wasn’t alone. At least six other people interviewed at random didn’t know where any of the candidates stood on the issues.

If name recognition is important, several of the candidates are in trouble, another voter who didn’t give his name could only name four.

“Well, there’s Gingrich, the Texas governor Perry, Michele Bachmann and that guy from Massachusetts,” the man said.

A potential voter who said his name is Lou said he’s familiar, but doesn’t like what he sees.

“I’m pretty much familiar with all of them, but I’m not happy with any of them to be honest,” Lou said.

The New Hampshire Republican Primary is Tuesday, January 10^th.

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Huntsman Blasts Obama, Romney and Gingrich

At the National Press Club on Thursday, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman criticized President Obama and fellow GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for their lack of trust.

“America suffers from a deficit of dollars and jobs. We also suffer from a deficit of trust  ­‑ trust in our institutions of power, from Washington to Wall Street,” Huntsman declared.

“The president came to office with a mandate to restore trust in Washington,” Huntsman continued, “yet his inexperience and failure to lead have left us worse off.”

Huntsman continued to criticize President Obama for wasting “an entire year jamming through a health care plan the American people didn’t ask for and can’t afford,” rather than focusing on developing a plan to improve the economy.

“My opponents offer no better,” Huntsman added in reproach of Romney and Gingrich.

Huntsman categorized Romney as a candidate who “will say anything to earn the voter’s trust” and Gingrich as a product of that same Washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system.”

“We have a choice in this race between a panderer-in-chief, a lobbyist-in-chief and a commander-in-chief,” Huntsman stated as he noted that he was the commander-in-chief.

Huntsman then laid out a seven-fold plan to revive the American economy and restore trust in Washington:

1.     Reform tax code – eliminate loopholes and subsidies to lower rates across the board for individuals and businesses

2.     Cut spending throughout government – reform entitlement programs based on the Ryan plan, while maintaining commitments to those already in retirement

3.     “Make sure no financial entity is too big to fall” – break up big banks on Wall Street

4.     Adopt comprehensive energy strategy that frees the US from foreign oil and eliminates all energy subsidies

5.     Systematically streamline regulations to make free, fair and competitive marketplace

6.     Bring troops home from Afghanistan while leaving an effective counterterrorism presence

7.     Amend constitution such that there are term limits for Congress – six two-year terms for House members and two six-year terms for senators. 

“You may not agree with me on every single issue,” Huntsman concluded, “but you’ll always know exactly where I stand, and I will never waver from my conservative convictions.”