Everyone is piling on poor Newt Gingrich now that’s he’s shot to the head of the polls. I find it difficult to write about Newt for the simple reason that his flaws are so out-sized and his record is so ridiculous that it seems almost petty to mention any single issue, as if by mentioning it you don’t give justice to the rest of his opus. My instinct is to basically ignore him and to always refer to him as the “disgraced” former Speaker. I also have a hidden motive. I actually want Newt Gingrich to do well in the primaries. Why use all our ammunition now? If ever a situation called for keeping our powder dry, this is it. Let Newt coast along piling up delegates and then bring the hammer down. Alas, even the corporate media senses their obligation to inform the public, once again, that Gingrich is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with American politics. Yet, for my money, he’s also the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. I am not shocked that he’s taken the lead in the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination. I predicted it. That he is tolerated and supported by a large segment of the Republican base is indicative of a kind of collective amnesia and selective memory. Yes, he’s little more than a stand-in for the Not Mitt Romney sentiment of conservative America, but he’s actually guilty of nearly every sin Mitt Romney is known for, and dozens more besides. Pick any issue you want, whether it be the environment, immigration, pork barrel spending, corporate welfare, lobbying for Freddie Mac, rank hypocrisy, unseemly adultery, taking both sides of an issue, being reprimanded for unethical behavior…Newt Gingrich has been on the wrong side of the conservative movement countless times. But all of that is temporarily shrugged off. Newt Gingrich should be an object of disdain and ridicule whether you are a liberal, a conservative, or an independent. The press understands this and will now try to convey that message to the Republican voters. Most likely, they’ll actually listen this time, because Gingrich’s record is indefensible regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Difficult question, but if you were a Republican and were determined to choose a candidate other than Romney (and other than Huntsman), which would you choose? Cain? Bachman? Perry? Newt? It’s hard to think about.
If I were a Republican I would vote for Huntsman because he’s the only guy who can actually run the country without recreating the disaster of the Bush years. He’d nominate conservative judges and generally staff his government with conservatives. He’d protect monied interests. If he raised taxes at all, it would be part of an overall tax reform that lowered rates. He knows how to deal with the Chinese and he’d try to govern our national affairs along traditional (Nixon, Poppy) Republican lines.
It’s not even a close call. He’s plenty conservative, but he’s not a lunatic or an idiot. And he’s not a complete two-faced wuss like Mitt Romney.
The real appeal to Huntsman is that even though he’d be very bad on domestic policy, he wouldn’t destroy the world through his commander-in-chief powers.
In other words he would be a white Obama. I think he would be the most dangerous candidate with Romney second but decidedly distant. Romney’s identification with Wall Street will hurt him badly. Newt wouldn’t win anything outside the South (including Texas) and maybe some minor Western states. It’s inconceivable that Newt would win anything in the North (I might eat my words in Michigan) or the West Coast (excluding Alaska).
Smarter with each passing day. He too Huntsman out of the 2012 running with it. I think even Huntsman knows it and is staying in so he has some experience and some infrastucture so he can go into 2016 saying well now that you tried insane let’s get serious.
Yeah, Newt’s the whole “package”: liar, cheat, political disaster, moral bankrupt and all around terrible human being.
Wait a minute, that’s just what the Republicans want! Nothing we say will convince the general Republican voter that Newt is a guaranteed disaster as a president. If he gets the nomination, it’s going to be interesting to see what, if anything, drags him down.
Surely, you can’t be serious. Gingrich isn’t Mormon and he isn’t an (n-word) – that’s all they’re hearing.
If you add up the numbers, they look something like this:
Mitt Romney: 21%
Candidate other than Romney: 62%
Undecided: 17%
Those are daunting numbers for Romney because they show much dependent he is on having numerous opponents. He probably would struggle to beat Rick Santorum in a one-on-one fight.
But his advantage is that he outclasses any single opponent who rises up to challenge him. That’s why no one can move above him in the polls and stay there for more than three weeks. Gingrich is no different.
I can’t predict how this thing will shake out, but I don’t think Gingrich has any more staying power than Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry.
I’m just saying that Republican voters won’t be convinced by the press about anything – Romney may well out-point everyone but there will be hell to pay at the convention – literally.
I don’t really agree. If we accused Newt of breaking some law or groping somebody, the base wouldn’t care. But showing clips of him flip-flopping and lying and saying things contrary to the Republican Canon? That’s still harmful.
It’s the “we” part of that equation that is determinative IMO. Several years ago Henry Lyons was the president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and we were about to throw the crook out on his ear until the Southern Baptist Convention insisted that we do so. Henry Lyons remained president until the feds threw him in prison because there was no way that we were going to accede to the wishes of “those people” even though what they wanted was actually what we wanted.
If the Weekly Standard or Washington Times took Gingrich apart then that would be one thing; coming from the NY Times or WaPo would be another matter altogether – liberal elites trying bring down “one of us” is how they’d shrug it off.
Sometimes you still have the power to amaze, Boo. You really think “the record” has something to do with who Republicans fall in lust with? Newt is probably better than most of his rivals when it comes to mindless image-making, and that’s all that counts. Whoever builds the best avatar for self-obsessed general hate wins. Newt has as good a chance as any of the 8 Stooges.
I get your point but how would you explain Mitt Romney’s weakness? Isn’t his record a huge part of his problem? He was pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-gay rights, and now he has reversed himself. He created RomneyCare and now he’s against it on the national level. Your record does matter. And what you say matters, too. Rick Perry had a record on immigration and the HPV virus. When that record came to light, Perry’s support collapsed.
Gingrich has lobbied for ethanol. He’s lobbied for Freddie Mac. His marital problems are at least as bad as Giuliani’s. He’s cut ads calling for something to be done about global warming. He’s spent much of his campaign doing outreach to the Latino community. He panned the Ryan Plan.
I mean check all the boxes because other than abortion and being scared of Muslims, he’s crossed every line and broken faith with every orthodoxy. And he’s transparently crooked and unethical on top of it all, with a record of flip-flopping equal to Romney’s.
Romney’s record is in the context of a wishy-washy weakling who has been all over every issue that really resonates with Reps: abortion, healthcare, gay rights, etc. If he came on like one of the good ol’ boys those flaws could be overcome, but all his efforts in that direction only deepen the sense that he’s an out-of-touch Northeastern elitist who doesn’t go to his suburban “ranch” to “clear brush”.
Perry simply publicly humiliated himself and stopped being identified with as a “winner”.
Gingrich may have as bad a record on the details, but many of these only reinforce his image as a bad-boy “conservative” bombthrower willing to jettison stodgy notions of morality in service of breaking the “liberal/big government” hegemony. Somehow the pudgy little twerp has managed to fit the image of the motorcycle rebel riding into town and making the uptight establishment tremble. Romney could never do that.
Will Newt last? Probably not, but unless Huntsman finally grabs onto that GOP escalator ride, it’s had to see how anyone of these will get selected.
I very much agree with your analysis that a big part of the reason that the GOP doesn’t like Romney is that they can sense he’s not “one of them.” He’s a zombie Rockefeller Republican who’s been grossly contorted to fit into the hard-right requirements of the modern GOP platform. Obviously his past positions are a another big reason the base doesn’t trust him, but I think you’re right that he might be able to overcome them if he had a swaggering persona and was from the South or Midwest.
In a way, Romney reflects well (electorally speaking) on Dubya, who was really the perfect GOP candidate. Iron-clad connections to the Northeastern establisment through Poppy, but an adopted Texan and legitimate born-again Christian. I don’t think McCain ever really had a shot against him in 2000.
All that said, I still believe Romney will stagger to the nomination, although I’d love to be wrong. Even if he does I hold out significant hope that Ron Paul or one of the “business plan” candidates like Cain will make a 3rd party bid. I’m glad Sarah Palin is out of the picture as she, more than anyone else, might actually have incited some wingnuts to violence.
I’m still a little mystified why Huntsman is unacceptable to Republicans as an alternative to Romney. At first I assumed he was too liberal, but he talks about eliminating the capital gains tax and talks about the EPA’s reign of terror. And he isn’t two faced like Romney, so I’d trust him to try to follow through on conservative ideas more.
Is it really just because he doesn’t send out the proper tribal signals? He was willing to work under the Obama administration, and he’s willing to speak disdainfully of people who reject the scientific consensus on climate change?
Well, a significant part of the Romney problem is that he’s a Mormon, so Huntsman does nothing to solve that problem. And yeah, working for Obama, speaking Chinese, and knowing where other countries are makes him completely untrustworthy. If I recall correctly, he’s also made some noises doubting the abominableness of some kind of public healthcare plan. Shame of shames.
He looks too little.
Really.
In a media-driven dumbocracy, it’s all about appearances. I mean…ya gotta promise not to rock the PermaBoat and alla that, but you also have to look the part.
Huntsman?
Not enough chin.
Not enough shoulder.
Just a little…fey looking. Just enough.
Now compare him to the cloned version.
All chin and a mile wide.
No contest.
Yup.
AG
The powder blue tie was definitely a fashion error. Maybe to prove his manliness he should do a photo op riding around on a tank
Yeah,
That’d work!
Lissen up…
We will have a Martian Muslim president before the nation’s paranoid gaydar will elect one that doesn’t look like some kind of media-created hero or heroine.
Could be a daddy or mommy figure, could be a western hero, could be a male model/movie star-looking hero like Obama. But it will be a star of some kind. A “star” with whom the majority of voters can in some way identify.
USA.
The Unlimiited Selling of America.
Bet on it.
It’s a reality show now.
Yup.
Nuthin’ more and nuthin’ less.
Unless of course someone somehow manages to break the mold.
Like speaking the truth in public no matter what the media tries to do to him.
Hint hint hint.
AG
Ann Coulter:
Now that will stick…
Damn! He DOES look like some made-for-TV movie version of the heroic President. Much better to run against Newt who looks like some shady Southern big-bellied cop.
Or Ron Paul who looks like a Gnome of Geneva.
Or Cain, best of all, that would make Obama the whiter candidate. Living in Virginia for six years taught me all about those nuances of skin shade, lip thickness, and hair tightness. Like Haiti, the mixed-race has a big advantage over the dark-skinned. With whites AND blacks. It doesn’t make sense, but nothing about race in America makes sense.
The assumption here is that…against the plentiful evidence of three years of utter servitude to the PermaGov line…Barack Obama would necessarily be somehow better than the other people that you mention.
Why?
Because he has a better front?
Great.
That simply makes him a better frontman.
There is only one practical candidate still in the race who is not a frontman for the PermaGov.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he actually won!!!
Ron Paul in 2012!!!
VAYA!!!
AG
Wouldn’t it be wonderful?
Mr. Laissez-Faire who says Social Security and minimum wage are Unconstitutional? I hardly think so!
What’s the attraction? No Income Tax? Why not just dissolve into 50 independent countries?
Why not? I have spent a great deal of time in Denmark, Holland, Switzerland and Finland. Great places to live.
Why not?
This ain’t working.
AG
America has had one war between the states. Europe? A few more. There’s a reason why they’re trying to create lasting bonds between European states – they have a history of killing each other otherwise. Let the Euro fail and let’s see how long it takes for Southern Europe to wage war against the north…
Yeah.
And the so-called “United” States has been the single most aggressive war-maker in the world for well over 70 years.
Korea
The Cold War
Vietnam
The various US-supported “wars” in South/Central/Caribbean America
The economic imperialist/Blood for Oil wars in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The war being still being fought today on US soil against people of color
Get real.
The world might not be better off without us, but we sure would.
Bet on it.
Read Thomas Naylor.
He has a point.
AG
No doubt, but the point is that we haven’t fought amongst ourselves – Georgia hasn’t declared war against Florida and Alabama regarding their recent water dispute, although a hypothetical Republic of Georgia might have done so (something about that name Georgia).
I believe the world and America were indeed better off when we stuck to our policy of non-intervention – I’m essentially an isolationist myself – but the point is that a unified Europe (or even a confederate Europe) is better than an every-nation-tribe-and-tongue-for-themselves Europe. We’ve seen that picture. It ain’t pretty.
The fix is still in. Gingrich is being run up the flagpole as Romney’s bad guy. Romney’s son of a bitch. Romney’s Cheney. Romney’s dark side of the moon conservative. Romney’s bad cop.
And people are saluting, too.
Watch.
Romney/Gingrich vs. Obama/??? in 2012.
“???” Maybe Biden, maybe not, depending on the polls and the final fix. If Obama is still the permaGov’s majority choice and the numbers do not look good, expect to see Hillary come riding to the rescue as VP. “Well…just this once. For the good of the country. I wanted to retire and be somebody’s grandma, but…” Especially if Ron Paul runs a third party move.
No?
Remember…the permaGov is like the mafia. You are in it for life. Bet on it.
Watch.
AG
As bad as it is to be exposed to this side show I’ve been cringing at the thought that for some unforseen reason Mitt dropped out of the race and all our discussion was no longer a side show but a hardcore run against mania.
That would be a debacle like 1964.
.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."sure we do. he’s the Non-Willard flavor of the week
I just refuse to talk about him substantively, for the most part, and focus on things like the weird shape of his head* or his sexual past.
*Once Thanksgiving passes and people are sick of pumpkin pie, they’ll stop being so favorable towards that jack o’lantern perched on his shoulders.
Heh. Hat tip to you, sir.
I was high on Newt Gingrich’s chances early on, you might remember, but I thought he was done when that stupid Tiffany’s credit story hit. The Republican establishment just buried him. I’m surprised he’s gotten back up.