Anyone who thought Rick Santorum’s dramatic suspension of his presidential campaign would cause Newt Gingrich to fall into line and give up his own quixotic quest for the Republican nomination doesn’t understand the former Speaker of the House. Gingrich may have acknowledged that Mitt Romney was the likely GOP nominee in an interview just this past Sunday on Fox News, but he reacted to the Santorum announcement as if it was an opportunity by asking the senator’s supporters to jump over to his camp. Though it is unlikely that not many will join a cause that was lost months ago, this was all the excuse Gingrich needed to resume his pointless candidacy.
While there was a moment back during the winter when the withdrawal of either Gingrich or Santorum would have had an impact on the GOP race, that boat sailed sometime in February. Gingrich lost the contest for the title of the leading conservative “not Romney” to Santorum but has been hanging around giving the impression he has nothing better to do with his life than attempt to masquerade as a credible candidate. While most Republicans understand that for all intents and purposes this is the first day of the general election campaign, for Gingrich it represents the hope that he can squeeze a little more attention out of an American public that has already demonstrated it is sick and tired of him.
That any continuation of the Gingrich sideshow makes no sense has been apparent for months. His campaign has amassed $4.5 million in debt, according to reports. The situation is so bad that, as ABC News reported, a check written on March 27 by the campaign to secure his place on the ballot in Utah bounced when it was deposited by the state. This story, which comes after the news last week that the health care think tank started by Gingrich had filed for bankruptcy shows just how dire the former speaker’s finances are right now. Though he had divested himself of control of The Gingrich Group last year when he began his presidential run, the lion’s share of his net worth derives from a promissory note from the think tank that has gone bust.
Republicans need to spend the upcoming months preparing for the fall election and shoring up the unity of a party that Gingrich has done much to divide with attacks on Romney from both the right and the left. Any time spent in the next few months on a futile campaign or an effort to have an impact on the Republican convention or platform (Gingrich may be the last person on the planet who thinks those documents have any value or are worth fighting about) will distract Gingrich from his main task of the moment: paying off his campaign debt. While Republicans may wish him good luck in that task, it’s time for the reconstituted Gingrich sideshow to exit the carnival.
Mr. Tobin: n nWith all due respect, you really need to get Newt's candidacy off your mind. I know you dislike him, but your constant harangue against the man has reached the level of ridiculous. n nPerhaps you might want to read what you wrote about Mittens over the past year and compare that to your treatment of Newt. It is OK for you to support whoever you wish, but you need to first declare who you support , then explain why. n nWhat you are incapable of doing, however is to speak for me or any other Commentary reader. I don't agree that Newt's finances are a germane topic, since money is still flowing from the government to the candidates – did you consider that? n nUnlike you, I do not want to vote for Mitt because he never was a conservative. Additionally, his record in politics is as liberal as can be. If you cannot see that , I am truly sorry for your blindness. n nWhen Mitt has secured enough committed delegate votes to win, the race is over – but we will not know that , most likely, until the votes are cast at the convention.
Having read Jonathan Tobin's rants for several months, it finally dawned on me that Tobin (the senior online editor of COMMENTARY magazine) and his boss, John Podhoretz (the editor of COMMENTARY), know that Barak Obama will defeat Mitt Romney, probably by a huge margin, in November. But that's not their worry. It isn't even their concern. n nPodhoretz's agenda is obvious. He and his fellow travelers – the Republican establishment – want to reinvent the Republican Party in ways that result in conservatives having little or no influence in defining the focus and establishing the agenda of the GOP. Who better to do the job than the vaunted turnaround artist, Mitt Romney! As the GOP's nominee, Romney could easily claim the right to lead the purge and reorganization of the GOP. n nThe GOP establishment will launch the project by blaming conservatives for Romney's loss and by claiming that a purge of the party is necessary to save it from extinction. n nTobin's role? To do to conservatives collectively what he's done to Gingrich, Santorum, Perry, Bachman, and Cain. Tobin is a hitman. His only role is to destroy.
Newt should find himself a nice deserted island in a remote place.
It's not just Gingrich and Santorum who have divided the party . . a log of bloggers and commentators have thrown their own bombs while others have just piled on. Being either an evangelical or a Republican doesn't make one a conservative. n nA conservative isn't a bomb thrower or a bigot . . a real conservative works within the system for the right outcome for their fellow citizens, rather than for a dictatorship or a share of power. Those in the *moral* majority qualify before those who think a Republican or Libertarian label makes one a conservative. n nRomney may not be the type of conservative you and I might like, but those who suggest he's not a conservative are lying to themselves along with everyone else. As a nerd, capitalist, strongly committed family man, Mormon-Christian, fuddy-duddy, and old fashioned Boy Scout, he is clearly *a* conservative and not a liberal. n nThe fascists in the Demcratic and the fundamentalists in the Republican parties are the opposite of a Romney. Fundamentalist Republicans are not conservatives if they have not tolerance, patience, and the will of their fellow citizens in mind. n nHaving respect for liberals doesn't make one a liberal. Working with Democrats to to be a voice of reason doesn't make one a liberal. Having respect for a conservative doesn't make a liberal a conservative. n nToo bad we aren't seeing more Democrats working with the Republicans. It's the fascists/fundamentalists of both parties who are to blame for that . . it's just that I don't expect it of fascist Democrats.
Apparently Newt feels the need to further damage his own label – more power to him. All he can do is further reveal his own gypsy con artist nature. The more destroyed his future in politics is, the better.
Mr. Tobin, n nNo one cares about your negative opinion of Gingrich. Why don't you point out some real news, like what percentage of the remaining delegates Gingrich has to win to stop Romney from getting the 1144. Romney doesn't win until he gets to 1144, Gingrich may not be able to get to 1144 himself, but if hi staying in stops Romney from doing the same, then why not stay in? Then they can square off this summer in debates, which will keep it interesting. n nThat type of unbiased reporting is what we need. Not your negative opinion of Gingrich. n nChris Eisbrenner