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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Bill Press
Oh, see them climb. Oh, watch them fall.
Ironically, there is something inherently democratic about this season's Republican primary: each candidate, in turn, gets his or her turn at the top of the pile as the "anybody-but-Mitt" flavor of the week. Donald Trump, remember, enjoyed his brief moment in the sun, followed by the even briefer dominance of Michele Bachmann. Rick Perry flared and flamed, allowing Herman Cain suddenly to cruise and crash. And now Newt Gingrich is enjoying his 15 minutes at the top.
The fact that Gingrich is temporarily on top of the pile -- does anyone seriously expect him to be the party's nominee? -- is less surprising than the fact that he's still in the race at all.
After all, Gingrich started his campaign with the ultimate conservative no-no: dumping on Paul Ryan's draconian budget-cutting plan, which every House Republican voted for and which the tea party adopted as its new Bible. Calling it "too big a jump," Gingrich denounced the Ryan proposal on "Meet the Press." "I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering," he scoffed.
Gingrich's recent history, in fact, is replete with instances of unorthodoxy. As an upstart member of
On Libya, also, Gingrich has been on both sides of the issue. When opposition forces made their first moves against Gadhafi, Gingrich told
More embarrassingly, perhaps, Gingrich today says he's not sure there's any such thing as global warming, even though he appeared in a 2008 national TV ad urging congressional action on climate change -- with Nancy Pelosi! He also must now explain how he could make getting rid of
There's one other factor in the equation. As the
For the last few months, in fact, Gingrich's only "campaign" activity has been to show up for every debate and scold the media for daring to ask tough questions. That's enough to win him the love and temporary loyalty of tea partiers, but not enough to qualify him as commander-in-chief.
And then, poor Newt, just as he soars to the top, comes the lowest blow of all. Disgraced former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who served three and a half years in prison for bribing members of
So Newt Gingrich is now leading the national polls?
Fuggedaboutit! Ain't gonna happen. Not even Republicans are dumb enough to nominate him.
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Newt Gingrich Enjoys His 15 Minutes at the Top | Politics
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