Day: December 6, 2011

Proof Gingrich Is a Nut — Limbaugh Likes Him

Buck Banks

Who was the last person to actually cut government? Who was the last person who actually led a movement that balanced the federal budget? Who was the person that did that? You’re not gonna take a guess? That’s right, it was Mr. Newt! He was the last guy who gave us a balanced budget. Now, there are a lot of other Republicans involved — Kasich was key and a lot of others — but Gingrich was Speaker. The last time this budget was balanced, the last time there was true welfare reform, the last time government was cut, Gingrich did it. Who is number one enemy of everybody today?

— Rush Limbaugh, bloviating on the radio yesterday. Does this count as an endorsement?

Why Gingrich Would Be Bad for the GOP

Buck Banks

In the mid-1990s, Gingrich was the de facto head of the Republican Party. He helped lead it to victory in the congressional elections of 1994, which brought about real accomplishments such as welfare reform. But once he attained power, both his popularity and that of his party started to plummet… Although Gingrich isn’t solely responsible for the Republican policy defeats of those years, his erratic behavior, lack of discipline and self-absorption had a lot to do with them. … We already know the basic strategy of the Obama campaign. It will be to portray the Republican nominee as a dangerous right-wing extremist. Romney’s demeanor — his steadiness, his reasonableness — would undercut that strategy. It seems likely to be much more successful against Gingrich. After all, it already was.

— Ramesh Ponnuru, writing for Bloomberg.