I’ve certainly had critical things to say about Newt Gingrich, but he proved again Monday night that he’s in possession of some of the greatest skills in American politics. Gingrich was the dominant figure in last night’s debate, in part because of his ability to create fairly dramatic moments, including his confrontation with Fox News’s Juan Williams. The former speaker was energetic, in command of the issues, and sent a jolt of electricity through the audience. He clearly owned the evening.
The South Carolina leg of the GOP campaign in some ways represents Gingrich in a microcosm. Last night we saw Gingrich at his best. But last week we saw him at his worst, leading an assault on Bain Capital (and the free market more broadly) that was terribly damaging to his campaign. Among other things, Gingrich’s approach earned him the praise of such liberal/left-wing stalwarts as the film director Michael Moore and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
What makes Gingrich the most Janus-like figure in American politics today is his capacity to bring a conservative audience to its feet one moment while in the next he refers to Representative Paul Ryan’s budget as an example of “right-wing social engineering.” The former House speaker can present himself as the heir of Reagan one day while the next he attacks democratic capitalism in language so extreme not even Barack Obama would dare invoke it. Gingrich can articulate in compelling terms the philosophical case for conservatism in one setting and speak as if he’s philosophically unanchored in another. He threatens to fire any staffer who goes negative one day and accuses the GOP frontrunner of lying and looting the next. He can speak out about the civilizational importance of marriage as an institution while treating it with a good deal less care in his own life. He can quote Edmund Burke while being a devoted follower of Alvin Toffler.
There’s a pinball quality to what Newt Gingrich says and does, which makes him both a compelling figure and an erratic one. He’s a man in possession of some extraordinary gifts but whose defects in his temperament and character are at least equal to those gifts. As a conservative, he can’t help but impress you, often just before he unnerves you.
With Newt Gingrich, you're served either fine wine or a Molotov cocktail, and you never know which one is coming until it's reached the table.
He has a fertile mind, great experience and he is a genuine horse's butt…..I don't see many of his former colleagues endorsing him…..
@ed_zuckerbrod…Well, whichever you're served, it will be a blast.
This is a good rehearsal of the two sides of the Gingrich coin. Ultimately, his bad side is a kind of tragic flaw. His coinage is indelibly marked by his bad side, which will always, ultimately, bring down the good side, which has instances of greatness, when the whole man must be intensely considered for such things as the highest of offices.
You have to accept Toffler's frame to understand Newt. He's the right wing of the Third Wave, just as Pat Buchanan serves as the right wing of the Second Wave.
In the Myrtle Beach debate, during his tirade about Marianne's "lies," Gingrich informed us that his friends can tell us that none of what she says is true. Really? In the story at esquire.com, two former friends who are mentioned by name are quoted as severing their friendship with him because of his deplorable treatment of Jackie and his two daughters. Not mentioned by name are the congregants of a church who took care of Gingrich's family after he left them with nothing.
Love Newt Gingrich. He's a great man. Will take the erratic behavior (Lindsey Graham said it was because he was trying to work with Clinton, a very skilled politician, to get things done, which he did) in order to get the great ideas and leadership and love of country which he possesses.