Newt for Prez?
You Got to be Kidding
By Daniel Muniz

My, my, what short memories Republicans have when it comes to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the 2008 presidential elections. It is as if all of a sudden disenfranchised conservatives developed selective amnesia because the newfound fondness that they now have for this GOP maverick certainly was not evident after the dismal 1998 congressional elections. In fact, I vividly remember social and fiscal conservatives alike cursing Newt’s name and hurling invectives and profanities that I cannot print here.

Many conservatives at that time genuinely felt betrayed and rightly so. Newt Gingrich was the anti-establishment politician who was going to clean up Washington DC and even take Bill Clinton to the cleaners. In fact, Newt almost did that but he ultimately ended up in the rinse cycle himself.

At the onset of the 1992 election, Republicans needed a dynamic charismatic leader. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and Bill Clinton was the antithesis of conservatism and decency. The press fawned over what was supposed to be the “second” Camelot with visions of higher taxes and a bigger more intrusive government.

1992 was a disaster for all Republicans when George Bush senior ran an awful half-hearted reelection campaign that was no match to the high coordinated effort of Bill Clinton. Afterwards, a number of Republicans felt that it was time for the Party to hold its own Council of Trent. Understandably, the GOP was downtrodden because everyone felt that the Senate and especially the House was out of reach; or at least everybody except Newt Gingrich.

The wily Gingrich sensed an opportunity in the shambles of the Republican Party.

Although I was skeptical of Newt, I had to say that I was impressed by the fanaticism of his disciples. When the rank and file believed that the Party would run astray in the wilderness for another decade or so after the 1992 election, Newt’s devotees had absolutely no doubt that he would someday become Speaker of the House. I even remember scoffing at a few of Newt’s acolytes for having such fervor.

I was definitely proved wrong in 1994 and so was everyone else except for Gingrich’s followers. They saw the weaknesses and indulgences of the Clinton Administration long before everyone else did and they developed a plan to exploit them. In fact, I experienced my own shock and awe as did many other once doubtful Republicans in 1994. All of a sudden people felt that it was actually possible for big government to be dismantled, wild spending to be reigned in, and a limited government brought back into place.

But I still had nagging doubts even back in 1995 when Newt assumed control of the House. Columnist Bob Novak was perhaps one of the very first conservatives who were greatly alarmed by the sheer arrogance and almost delusional state of mind that Gingrich flaunted although hardly anyone else at the time even dared to voice any criticisms because you really cannot argue against success. I just felt that Newt would eventually become intoxicated with power.

Instead of HUD, the Departments of Education and Energy, and all the other huge unresponsive governmental bureaucracies being dismantled by the GOP, everything stayed the same. Where Newt once rightly called Bob Dole of Kansas the tax collector of the welfare system, he was now his best friend especially for the 1996 presidential election. The once fiery Gingrich who opposed the machinations of big government now embraced it. Of course Newt would continue to do the talk but he no longer did the walk.

As a result, when Gingrich left politics in disgrace, many conservatives simply thought it was good riddance that he was gone. Yes, Newt did engineer the takeover of Congress and in the first hundred days he did impress conservatives but it was the years afterwards that he lost his vision of limited government fiscal conservatism. And for social conservatives, he lost the decency and integrity that he used to bludgeon Bill Clinton with.

However, Newt is back by popular demand.

Many conservatives are disillusioned with John McCain and Rudy Giuliani although the rank and file does not seem to understand that both men are creations of the media. It is the press that made both of these presidential candidates’ frontrunners. It was not the enthusiasm of the grassroots that gave them their superstar status. In fact, their appeal is artificial because they represent who the media wants to see winning the GOP nomination instead of what Republicans truly desire.

The same thing is also happening with Democrats. Senators Dodd and Biden have impressive credentials yet the press only cares about Barack Obama. It is the media who made Obama the frontrunner; not rank and file Democrats.

In this same flux with Republicans, Newt Gingrich senses an opportunity.

Conservatives are frustrated that the media is only concerned with McCain and Guiliani. In fact, not only has the rank and file conceded themselves to this outcome, a number of powerful Republicans are beginning to ingratiate themselves with both men because they want to be on this bandwagon. Newt feels that he has a shot of capturing these disenfranchised conservatives and displace the frontrunners if he were to enter the race.

Naturally, there are plenty of Republicans who are nostalgic about Gingrich. Yes, he was absolutely brilliant in engineering the takeover of Congress and there is no dispute there. But too many conservatives are reminiscing about the good while conveniently overlooking the bad and the ugly. There is a reason why Newt left Congress and these starry eyed Republicans ought to jog their memories and put aside their selective amnesia.

In all truthfulness, Newt Gingrich is just as polarizing as Hillary Clinton is and he carries just as much baggage as both Clintons so he may very well end up being a lightning rod of controversy. But more to the point is that he lost sight of his fiscal and social conservatism a long time ago and Republicans definitely don’t need a repeat of that for 2008.

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