Gingrich To Throw His Ego Into Presidential Ring
Unless it gets cancer” ~ ALEX KNAPP
The Republican Party’s field of presidential wannabes ranges from outright loons to mediocrities to perhaps two candidates who have the chops to run a smart campaign, although not beat President Obama. They would be Mitt Romney, who is likely to run, and Mitch Daniels, who would best cool his heels until 2016.
Then there is the massive ego who goes by the name of Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich, who plans to announce his candidacy tomorrow although he has the slimmest of chances of getting the nomination.
This is not because of Gingrich’s serial infidelities and the fact that his third wife Callista, who “he began dating while still married,” as The New York Times euphemistically puts it, will be at his side on the campaign trail and as a trophy wife a constant reminder of his deep moral rot. After all, it is only Democrats who get lambasted for their turpitudes.
This is not because Gingrich says some truly over the top things, like linking that rot to patriotism: “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”
This is not because of Gingrich’s notorious flip-flopping, including being for health-care reform before he was against it, and for a Libyan no-fly zone until there was one and he was against it. After all, what’s a little flip-flopping, even a lot of flip-flopping, among politicians. (Are you listening, John McCain?)
This is not because Gingrich is a chickenhawk who worked assiduously to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. After all, so did Tom Delay, Karl Rove and George Bush (with an asterisk), as well as Dick Cheney, who attacked Viet vet John Kerry in 2004 for being weak on national defense but himself did not serve because he had “other priorities.”
It is because Gingrich, of any of the wannabes, represents the grouchy old man conservative political order that McCain so ably represented before him.
Gingrich also can point to the disastrous government shutdown that he engineered as his greatest accomplishment, he has the distinction of being the first speaker to be reprimanded in the House’s history for ethics violations, and while he is a so-called intellectual heavyweight, that talent is subsumed by a gutter instinct.
Oh, and Gingrich’s net favorability ratings among voters are in double-digit negatives (Sarah Palin, too), something which since 2000 has only been true of two other candidates — Pat Buchanan and Al Sharpton.
16 Responses to “Gingrich To Throw His Ego Into Presidential Ring”
If I was a republican I’d be holding my head in my hands and moaning. Btw, what do you think of Jon Huntsman?
I think 2016.
There’s something a bit surreal about announcing a future announcement.
I think Gingrich knows he cannot win the nomination. He is setting himself up for a future position in a potential Republican administration.
I think his negatives are too much to even get the second half of the ticket, but stranger things have happened in politics.
Newt, stick to your business enterprises.
dduck:
Funny that you should mention that. Mrs. Gingrich Number Three is a Catholic and Newt, a Southern Baptist by birth, has converted.
Which would make it merely a coincidence that among his enterprises are DVDs of the Holy Father speechifying.
I miss a lot of things about the ’90s. Newt’s not one of them.
roro80:
You are more correct than you know and I only allude to this in my post.
The 90s were a go-go period (my 401k was still a few years away from being immolated when the dot.com bubble burst) but the feel good-ness did not extend to a political era book-ended by Gingrich’s Contract on America and the Republicans’ Contract on Bill Clinton, in which Newt of course was a major player.
He is a negative force for sure.
While probably not the first, Newt Gingrich represents one of the “finest” examples of the Conservative hypocrisy and double–talk, double-act, holier-than-thou conducts that were so rampant in the 90s and continued for most of the past decade.
Touting and flouting family values and crucifying those who in their opinion did not live up to such expectations, while they were breaking and violating every moral and values rule and tenet themselves.
Demonizing, even legislating against gays for political opportunism, while being gay themselves.
Condemning—calling them traitors, unpatriotic and un-American—those who opposed the Iraq war and allegedly did not “support the troops”, while they themselves had used every trick in the book to get out of serving their country.
And the list goes on…
Well said, Shaun
If Gingrich throws his ego into the ring there won’t be room for much else. I can’t imagine anyone on the left ever voting for him, he has no appeal to moderates, and his base on the right is small. I don’t know who he thinks will support him. He’s not as buffoonish as most of the other GOP candidates but makes up for that by being unlikable.
Gingrich has a strong chance at the VP, a Cabinet post (imagine him as Secretary of Education), or some other top job. Ambassador to who knows where — not Saudi Arabia or Iraq or Pakistan, but maybe Thailand (his wife should be even more worried if that happens).
I’ve written elsewhere that the “GOP desperation 2012″ situation is ripe for Jeb Bush to exploit (and I heard earlier today some commentary stating that it’s likely the Bush family is doing what it can to boost the impression of a poor GOP field). Gingrich may add to this.
Three Bushes are two too many. Even the GOP knows that.
He’s only doing this to give him “street cred” to continue to be a talking-head commentator.
It’s all about Brand Gingrich, not leading the country.
@ JSpencer: I am doing just that. I like Huntsman, but sadly, the South will likely not vote for a Mormon. See T-Steel’s post. I do hope that Huntsman is our nominee in 2012. He will do well in the White House if he can get there. That being said, the fact that he annoys the likes of Red State makes him someone I can get behind. I may agree with them on substance, but not on style, and style DOES matter.
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