Maureen Dowd has a new piece out on Callista Gingrich this week, and while it devolves into unnecessary nastiness at the end, this part about the contrast between Newt’s and Mitt’s wives is worth noting:
Ann Romney often introduces her husband, chatting warmly about his uxorious virtues, and then disappears offstage or to the back of the stage while he talks. But the 45-year-old Callista has created an entirely new model for a spouse, standing mute in her primary color suits and triple-strand pearls looking at the 68-year-old Newt for the whole event, her platinum carapace inclined deferentially toward his shaggy gray mane. …
That may be why she has a largely nonspeaking role in the campaign, as silent as the slender heroine of “The Artist,” even though Newt relays that she has described herself as a hybrid of Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush and Jackie Kennedy. The campaign does not want to remind voters that the relationship, portrayed as so redemptive, was born in sin and hypocrisy.
It wasn’t until after reading this that I realized I couldn’t even remember actually hearing Callista speak. A Google search for Callista Gingrich interviews – which brought up this 2009 clip of her sounding like a museum guide robot – only managed to amplify the Stepford Wife resemblance. This isn’t a person talking, it’s rote memorization. Which raises the question: is Gingrich uncomfortable with his wife speaking off-the-cuff?
This wouldn’t be an issue worth mentioning if Newt didn’t already have a serious problem with women voters, one some pundits say may have cost him Florida. While Gingrich’s advisers may think keeping Callista quiet will draw less attention to Newt’s infidelity, in fact, the exact opposite is probably true. Women see Callista trailing her husband around the country like a silent mannequin and find it instinctively off-putting: Why is he so uncomfortable with his wife taking a normal role in the campaign? What’s wrong with him? If Newt wants to understand his problem with women voters, he has to realize Callista’s odd silence plays a part in it.
I started to read Maureen Dowd's piece, but as with so many of her essays, I find there is something sickening and pathological about the way she sees people and her sensibility in general. "Carapace"? Really? It must be a sad and nauseating thing to live with Dowd's mind and her intimate relationships.
What if she were asked point blank about her 'open marriage' thoughts? Or worse what did she think about family values and fidelity in marriage? What a nightmare for Newt. Personally, I am not sure how she doesn't twitch every time Newt is in proximity to a younger more attractive woman. She better hope never to get sick or sore. After all he is very quick to trade in older spouses and upgrade to the latest model.
It was quite savvy of the Gingrich campaign to keep Callista out of the primaries. Primaries have been nothing but negative, no substance whatsoever. If they had put Callista out in this kind of shitstorm she is open to attack-Any and All of the above. n nWhat would happen if Newt won the nomination…you can run but you can't hide. They didn't think this through, Obviously. n nCallista may be a very nice person, however she will always in infamy be a Home Wrecker, an adulterer, a few other things that only have four letters, it ain't worth it.
I have been saying this from the start. I knew Newt's wife would never be first lady of this nation. He doesn't want her talking to reporters because he knows the inevitable questions will start being asked. Namely those regarding her role in his serial adultery. She is a robot 23 years his junior who obviously is more of a paid servant than a wife.
Perhaps Callista is worried that she is getting a a little long in the tooth and Newt just restocked the farm team.
Yes, all very awkward and kind of creepy. We're supposed to make a bargain that we don't see her and won't intrude or pry. As if the media will follow our obedient lead. Yet this is the same guy warning us every day how Romney's weaknesses will be exploited by the big bad media 'elites' or whatever we are calling them this week. My head is spinning… can't tell an establishment Pubbie from a RINO to save my soul… wondering how the Catholic guy with 3 wives has the gall to play the Mormon card… will there be kosher meals served on the lunar colony… which candidate has the snappiest casino mogul in his pocket… will Madonna loan Bama her gladiators for the convention? It's all a mystery to me.
Seems to me that Newt's the real Mormon in this race. n nJim Whittaker nHemet, CA
Has anyone looked closely and noticed the blow up nozzle on the side of her neck?
If you watch the few times they’ve let her speak, you’ll quickly understand why you haven;t seen more of it.rnrnI do not know her, for all of me she may be a wonderful and warm person. But she stinks at public speaking, coming across as brittle and unpleasant. The best service she can do her husband on the stump is to smile and lead the applause.
Her talents obviously fall into a category other than public speaking.
I think they are just waiting until "it is time." When she starts to speak it will not matter what she says. She will be vilified and impugned because the fix is in on Newt2012: "Create as vicious and disgusting an aura around them as possible. Draw as vivid a narrative association of disgust around them as possible so no one pays attention to what he is saying." He's also probably saying to himself, "If the people decide that I am not to be the nominee, I will not have had to subject her to what will surely be some of the most disrespectful treatment of any potential first lady in history."
Some of the comments here make my point for me.
I think you have to wonder about why Gingrich really got into the race….. He initially didn't appear to me to be a serious candidate. THINK about it: n nWith his baggage (ethics issues, having to resign the Speakership, have signed contracts with the chief lobbyist at Freddie, having been unfaithful to two wives and having divorced them after their being diagnosed with serious illnesses — WHY would he think he could win the nomination? n nI think he got into the race for publicity and to sell more books (and whatever else it is he sells – 'strategic advice' or influence). He was probably amazed when he started, finally, gaining traction after Bachmann, Cain and Perry had crashed and burned. But then, his ego took over, and now he's fighting to regain the political power he once had …. or perhaps he's just fighting to destroy the 'establishment Republican's' dreams of beating Obama.
Wow, how about wondering just why Speaker Gingrich keeps on increasing the GOP primary voter turnout in every State/County he wins, while RINO Whining Willard Romeny constantly depresses the GOP voter base in every primary he runs in? n nUnless of course you only intend to smear Newt as Flippin Mitty now does daily via his media millions and his paid troll corps invading the Web Boards. Mitt is a repeat of McLame and will loses the General by depressing the Base/TP voters as McLame did, if he's the GOP Nominee, because with his Progressive Views/RoBomneycare, the Base/TP voters will never support Mitt. The WP reports that the more the Indies find out about Mitt, the less that like him now! n nWorry about that, instead of wondering why Speaker Gingrich is running, and increasing the voter turn out.
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Too late for Newt – once HE HIMSELF portrayed his inamorata as the woman who would prove to be THE ALL TIME BEST First Lady of ALL American history, in the face of some extremely fine and very gracious ladies in our past, he sealed this thing solid. n nCallista is as qualified as he is, which is to say, I'm equally sure he would make the finest brain surgeon in the history of medicine – ON THE SKILLS HE CURRENTLY POSSESSES WITHOUT FURTHER TRAINING – as they would make the best First Couple in American history.
Newt has a strong pimp hand.. and a 500k Tiffany's credit line.. n nCallista has too much to lose by opening her mouth.. and I'm sure she would hate to catch one of those fat paws backhanded across her face as well..
Having waited on her in a restaurant a few years ago, I assure you her silence has a lot to do with her personality. She simply isn't the outspoken type.
This behavior was ok for JFK because he was liked. It is not ok for Newt because he is not liked. Same behavior. The only difference in the equation is us.
If JFK were running today and his affairs were public knowledge, he would have a hard time getting elected. n nNewt would not have been considered a viable candidate just a few years ago because of his affairs. How many Republicans do you know who have stepped down when it was disclosed that they were having an affair? Today, the fact that he is even being considered is a sign of changing times. I'll let history decide if it is a good change or not.
I know Callista personally, went to Luther College with her, she was a fellow music major and we were in several seminars together. She is bright and personable, talented and sufficiently eloquent. Her husband on the other hand, well… Newt should let her speak her mind, she would be an asset to his campaign.
Two words: Pappy Bush. n nGeorge Bush the Elder bade a much better adviser than POTUS — he largely ran much of Reagan's 2nd term from what I hear. Newt clearly needs a babysitter, an anchor, and perhaps Callista is just that — a silent analytical person who may be very bright with some very strong opinions but who isn't the type of person to toss them out into the public arena. If she was a music major at a small college – 2600 students is a small college — she quite likely is the type of person who doesn't like speaking publicly and that may well be what attracted her to Newt who clearly does. n nWhat everyone is missing here is if Newt had met her first, would he still be married to her? nMy guess would be yes, but not for the reason that people might think — Newt truly needs an anchor to keep him on message. Makes me think of Maggie Thatcher's husband.
"What everyone is missing here is if Newt had met her first, would he still be married to her?" n nIt would have been hard for Newt to meet and marry her first since his first marriage occurred 4 years before she was born.
Is Mitt's version of wiping all the MA Gov office computers clean just before he left office his idea of open/honest? And how did Mitt get an IRA Account with from 20-106 $ Million in it when the annual contributions are limited by the IRS to $ 30,000 for the rest of us Main Street tax payers, huh? And, why is it linked to Bain's 138 Cayman Island Investment Funds. Please explain, instead of smearing Newt.
Now if we could just get Moochelle Obama to keep quiet.