The Miseducation On Newt Gingrich

If you want to know why I believe there's a enough solid chance Newt will win enough primaries to seriously panic the GOP establishment into doing something amazingly stupid that may blow up the entire party, I direct you to Pajamas Media's Bryan Preston, who has this analysis of the Newt.

Newt Gingrich is such a mixed bag it’s hard to know where to start in assessing his true record. He helped scuttle HillaryCare. He balanced the budget for the first time in forever. He authored, and forced President Clinton to sign, welfare reform. These are all historic achievements for which Newt Gingrich deserves credit.

But he resigned in disgrace after being the only Speaker of the House in US history to be punished and fined by his own majority for ethics violations. He fell for global warming. He lobbied — despite what he says, that’s what he did — for Freddie Mac. He raked in tens of millions promoting big government health care including the individual mandate, all the way up to 2009. He called Paul Ryan’s budget reforms “right wing social engineering.” In an anti-establishment national moment, he’s the embodiment of much that’s wrong with the establishment. He is, ironically, more of an establishment figure than the incumbent president. That “crossroads where government meets enterprise”? Gingrich has occupied it for 30 years. And then there are the private life problems, which stretch all the way to the beginning of his political career. You can’t even argue that he has always been faithful to his next wife. He’s an opposition researcher’s dream opponent. His nomination would take several major issues off the table.

But at least he can debate well and swat the media. There’s no chance that either can wear thin and end up turning voters off, right?

What an amazing mix of fact and fiction there to create Gingrich's larger than life persona...or more importantly, the facts are the part where Preston is attacking him.  The fiction is where anyone other than a die-hard Republican voter over the age of 40 has any positive connotations of Newt at all, and even with the silly nonsense about Newt "balancing the budget" and "reforming welfare", not even a winger hack like Preston can make up enough winger nonsense to rehabilitate Newt Gingrich.  There's just too much baggage there.

On the other hand, the fact that the GOP establishment despises Newt Gingrich only hands the Tea Party nutjobs all the motivation they need to vote for him.  And should Newt actually start winning and the polls stay where they are into the January primaries, I wouldn't put it past the GOP powers that be to put Newt down like a rabid animal.  And if they don't, and they accept him, he augers into the ground at Mach 4 in the general.  Who would be pick as his VP in order to help him win?  Palin again?  Bachmann?  Cain?  Please.

Either way then things will get really, really fun.