It is a conundrum that perplexes even the most seasoned republican operative. What is one to think of Newt Gingrich's sudden emergence as the rock star of the GOP field?
Why are people believing him? Why are people forgiving him for past sins that should and would sink any other republican candidate like a large stone in black waters?
What the hell is going on here?
If they knew they'd fix it, trust me.
These people know Newt Gingrich. They've worked with Newt Gingrich. They have as much trust in him as they do a wounded Gila Monster. Just mentioning his name makes them squirm.
Part of the problem, of course, is Mitt Romney. He is too New England. He has dallied with a universal health care plan. His religion is suspect. His conservative credentials are too new and seem minted just for the occasion. He reeks of being an infidel who will play to the center and compromise at all the wrong times on all the wrong issues if he is nominated, or elected.
The fact that Mr. Gingrich has a continuing track record of bellicosity plays to this mob of rank and file tea party yahoos. Out raged rhetoric, it would seem, counts for more than actions. The republican leadership on the other hand, the same guys who voted Gingrich out of the House Speaker's chair, know that while he talks the talk, he'll never walk the walk.
He is too self serving. What else do you call a guy working on his third marriage? He is petty and vindictive. The government had to shut down under his watch because of a perceived affront by Bill Clinton. He is too much the career politician, everything the tea party supposedly abhors. As soon as he left congress he started cashing in on his career and that includes taking $1.6 million from a sinking Freddie Mac for "strategic advice". Strategic advice that apparently didn't work since the feds are still throwing money into that black hole.
Ron Paul, who has his own problems during this campaign. has called Gringrich's acceptance of the Freddie Mac money immoral. Oklahoma senator, Tom Coburn, who served in the house with Gingrich has questioned his leadership abilities. The acerbic conservative John Sununu loathes the man.
What is certain, is that to the extreme discomfort of those who run the party, Gingrich has the lead in Iowa. Even more disconcerting is that the winner of the republican primary in South Carolina has won the nomination in each election cycle since 1980. Right now, both there and in Florida, Gingrich is running away from the pack with double digit advantages.
The whole affair is beginning to look like the Egyptian labyrinth. Mubarak was bad and he had to go so that there could be free elections. In the free elections the Muslim Brotherhood scores a huge victory. Yes, you can give people a choice, but you can't trust them to make the choice you want them to.
Beware the public. It has a short memory and knows only what it sees on Fox News. That and they vote.
12-11-11
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