If you don’t believe Newt Gingrich has baggage that will surely chip away at his polling numbers if he gets the Republican Presidential nomination — which I increasingly feel he can do — then just read Maureen Dowd, who effectively catalogs it in her newest masterful-as-usual column. The reality is that in politics baggage does count to a certain extent because it can steadily reduce support if it is highlighted or — as is the unfortunate case in politics — greatly exaggerated. Gingrich is fun to watch, has paid his dues to the Republican party, has made his peace with Evangelicals, has done exceedingly well during debates (except for his tiresome right-on-schedule picked fights with the media which probably endeared him to Republicans). But he has so much baggage TSA will have to send in a team.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.