California Conservative

This article is great news to any conservative who’s still ‘recovering’ from this past election. I know it did my heart good.

The radical realist who defied conventional wisdom 12 years ago by stealing the House out from under the noses of entrenched Democrats now plans a surprise attack for the presidency. “I’m going to tell you something, and whether or not it’s plausible given the world you come out of is your problem,” he tells Fortune. “I am not ‘running’ for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen.” So he’s running, only without yet formally saying so.

Newt’s never been bashful in laying out his vision for America. Though some say that that’s his biggest flaw, that isn’t a belief I share with Newt’s naysayers in the GOP. Frankly, I wish more Republicans were as eloquent in laying out their conservative vision for America as Newt is.

I remember a Strib article from Newt’s book tour following the 1994 landslide election. I remember it because the liberal reporter (that’s the only type of reporter they’ve ever had at the Strib.) said that “Whether you agree or disagree with Gingrich, you’re drawn towards him because he’s first and foremost a teacher.” I’ve always thought that that’s the most apt description of Newt that I’ve ever heard.

What makes Newt a great teacher, and movement leader, is that he’s always challenging the status quo, always challenging people with a logical presentation that’s long on verifiable facts and policy recommendations aimed at producing solutions to the most difficult issues of the day. He’s also great at answering ‘the why questions’ that change votes. If he didn’t have the baggage, we’d be fortunate to have someone like Newt as the GOP standard bearer. Then again, I agree with Rush when he said that all GOP candidates will have baggage and “if they don’t, the Drive By Media will create some baggage for them.” (The Drive By Media’s slogan might as well be “Why let integrity stand in the way of keeping a conservative out of the White House”?)

While other potential competitors like Arizona Sen. John McCain, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney build staff and hire consultants, Gingrich revealed to Fortune that he plans to create a draft-Newt “wave” by building grassroots support for his health care, national security and energy independence ideas, all of which he has been peddling to corporate audiences over the past six years. “Nice people,” Gingrich says of his GOP competitors. “But we’re not in the same business. They’re running for president. I’m running to change the country.”

Not building a nationwide organization tells me that Mr. Newt faces an uphill battle. That said, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Mr. Newt.

The former House revolutionary has always been considered a wild card in the ‘08 race. He still has a huge and animated following among conservatives, and his healthcare reform work; he founded the DC-based Center for Health Transformation; has enabled him to broaden his appeal to Democrats and centrists.

While James Carville invented the winning Clinton campaign slogan of “It’s the economy, Stupid”, I’d suggest that Newt’s campaign slogan be “It’s the vision, Stupid.” He’s a natural born leader. He’s a visionary who talks in plain language. Another thing that’s infectious about him is his ability to talk authoritatively on almost any subject.

The other thing that’s worth noting is that much of the baggage Newt’s carrying is from a decade ago, which is like a lifetime ago in politics. Young voters won’t remember much of his misdeeds back then and 30-40 year olds won’t likely have paid attention to him at that point.

Technorati Tags: Election 2008, Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 12:42 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Election 2008, Homeland Security, Immigration, Middle East, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.