Milton Wolf writes in The Washington Times about “[Newt] Gingrich’s rise and the Tea Party’s embrace of him”. Dr. Wolf says:
“The conservative movement deserves an unapologetic, full-throated Great Communicator once again. Few can articulate conservatism as effectively as the former speaker.”
But what Dr. Wolf is missing, and what Tea Partiers (or anybody else) who are for Mr. Gingrich because of what they have heard him say in debates over the last few months need to realize, is that Newt Gingrich is a lot more, and less, than what they have seen and heard in those debates. Obviously, that is true for all politicians (and all people, for that matter), but it may be a little more true for Mr. Gingrich.
Certainly, Mr. Gingrich was the architect of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994. He was also thrown out of the Speakership by his own party four years later.
While Newt Gingrich was Speaker, the federal government enacted welfare reform. The country also re-elected Bill Clinton at least in part because President Clinton beat Speaker Gingrich hands-down in the political battles over government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996.
I don’t object to people making money, but I wonder about all the money Mr. Gingrich made while consulting for federal government agencies.
And then there is his idea of having federal marshals effectively arrest judges to force them to testify before Congress about decisions Congress doesn’t like.
For those who have looked at all of Mr. Gingrich’s record and have decided to support him, I say more power to you (even though I disagree with you). But for those who support Mr. Gingrich based on what he has been saying over the last several months, I say: Beware. You may be surprised by what you get.
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