Scenes From The Gingrich Campaign

Don't rule out Newt in 2008

by Matthew Continetti

It's February 28, 2007, in the poorly lit, dank, crowded basement, aka the "Great Hall," of Cooper Union college in Manhattan, and Newt Gingrich is talking to a sophisticated, well-attired, seen-it-all New York audience. As he speaks, the tempo of his words increases, until he begins to sound as though he is rapping: "We spent hours last week on a left-wing billionaire"--David Geffen--"getting unhappy because his former friends"--the Clintons--"didn't do what he thought they would do when he bribed them," he says, "because he's really unhappy about being lied to because he thought surely they would actually do what he wanted when he bribed them. . . ."

It's the sort of rhetorical barrage one expects from Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity--or from the old Gingrich, the Gingrich of the 1980s and '90s, the partisan gunslinger who brought down House Speaker Jim Wright and declared war against the liberal elites and made Democrats seethe in fury. But for the new Gingrich, the Gingrich who has been painstakingly refurbishing his image in the last few years, who has said nice words about Hillary Clinton and who plugs New York senator Charles Schumer's new book at every opportunity, the aside seems out of character. It sparks cognitive dissonance. What would have once seemed routine now seems jarring. Even impolite.

Yet none of the New Yorkers assembled here seems to mind. All these men and women with serious looks on their faces, their winter coats splayed across their laps or hung from their chairs, clad in somber colors brightened by fine jewelry--when Gingrich finishes his rap they erupt in cheers and laughter. They've done this throughout his speech: after he said, "If we had Sarbanes-Oxley for the public sector, half the bureaucracies couldn't sign any reports because they'd go to jail"--clap clap clap!--and after he said, "You don't elect a president to memorize. You elect a president to have wisdom, to have serious thought, to reflect," and after he said that presidential campaigns "are consultant full-employment processes." Each of these lines receives raucous applause.

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Commentary

In my opinion, Newt stands head, shoulders, and torso above the other candidates, most especially the Three Stooges the Legacy Media have foisted upon us as the front runners. Most conservatives I know don't consider them eligible for serious consideration, with the caveat that "Rudy will do in a pinch" nod to the perceived power of conventional media outlets.

This election will be anything but conventional, and with the North Carolina Primary moved to Giga Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, we will start to see some action this fall.

I hope some of the candidates swing through Asheville so I could get a closer look like I did last August with John Edwards.

Hendersonville Rally

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