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April 27, 2006
Does Newt Really Have A Chance?
Ed Morrissey focuses on a man whose potential candidacy for the presidency seems to draw either sneers or dismissive chuckles...but I wonder. Ed thinks that Newt Gingrich is one of the few candidates who is exhibiting presidential-caliber thinking on the immigration issues, and he highlights a Washington Times report on the former Speaker of the House:
Mr. Gingrich said he sympathizes with illegal aliens participating in protests and placed blame for the illegal immigration problem on businesses and the federal government."I do not blame someone who leaves poverty to seek prosperity," Mr. Gingrich said during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. "They showed up here to work under a social contract and then [the government] tried to change the terms."
Emphases mine. I've said the same thing: when confronted with the choice to better one's life or continue to subsist in grinding miserable poverty, the decision is easy. The causes of the disaster lie elsewhere.
There's no doubt that Gingrich is a smart guy, and he's articulate. And there's a distinction: his articulateness is not an end in itself--he uses it as a tool to communicate his clear strategic thinking. Some politicians are good thinkers but poor communicators, GWB being the prime example, God love him. Others (and this is a much more populous category) can speak well, but their thoughts are disordered, illogical or mendacious. Note that of course this doesn't preclude Gingrich from being wrong; he certainly has been before. But in the current hyper-polarized climate, the ability to distill grand strategy into easily presentable units and then effectively present them to your electorate is becoming a necessary skill.
A skill that is unfortunately not on display in the Senate.
Bad news from the Hil: an amendment introduced by Senator Tom Coburn challenging the Railroad to Nowhere has been defeated by a 49-48 vote.Voting against $700M for the Railroad to Nowhere: Harry Reid, Senate Democratic Leader
Voting in favor of $700M for the Railroad to Nowhere: Senator Bill Frist, Senate Republican Leader
Hat tip to Bill Quick, who notes:
We have to wake up the Stupid Party, before it completely merges itself into the Republicrat Statist Party.
Sounds like 1994 again. Hey, didn't we start off talking about Newt Gingrich?
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