The American Spectator

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Advisor in Chief

4.18.06 @ 12:01AM

THE SPEAKER, RECONSIDERED
Re: Shawn Macomber's There's Only One Newt:

Newt's the smartest man in the room, period. He's savvy enough to realize he doesn't have all the answers, but knows how to analyze history to garner clues as to what to do. Compared to anyone else possibly running for President, to me Newt's a slam dunk.
-- John P.
Elmhurst, Illinois

Electing Newt to POTUS would be a disservice to both Newt and the country, in my opinion. It would be the ultimate example of the Peter Principle at work.

Newt is undoubtedly one of the smartest and foremost thinkers and strategists that the Republicans have seen in many decades. If there were a position of thinker in chief or chief strategy devisor, Newt would be the best man for the job, hands down. He is also a truly gifted speaker and above average motivator. Unfortunately he motivates the Democrats against him as well as the Republican for him.

It is also true that, in a couple of areas of public policy, Newt is as liberal as Hillary.

As much as I agree with Newt in his analysis of problems in our policy choices and, indeed, the body politic in general, I am not at all convinced that he would or could carry out the necessary measures to fix the problems identified. I am sure that the entire federal bureaucracy would unify and rise to stymie whatever he tried to do. I am not sure that Newt could overcome that unified resistance. An example would be the State Department or the Education Dept. bureaucracy and their bosses at the NEA. Newt has made wonderful statements regarding what needs to be done, but actually getting it done is another thing entirely.

In my humble opinion, we need to elect a good conservative (is another Reagan out there?) instead of the typical RINO and then make Newt the officially designated advisor-in-chief on all issues both foreign and domestic except environmental issues and issues to do with zoos, both areas where Newt tends too far to the liberal side of the political spectrum for my tastes.
-- Ken Shreve

Whoa Nellie! Or more apt, whoa Newt! Forget Newt's alpha male tendencies. Newt is more suited to being the underdog than the leader of the pack. Compare his record of minority whip, when he drafted the Contract With America as opposed to his time as Speaker of the House. I bet more Americans remember the time he blew off steam in front of the salivating press after Clinton ordered him, and others, to exit from the tail of Air Force One than any of the reforms he forced Clinton to sign into law. Being president requires a certain presence that hotheads like Newt and McCain do not have. That said I wouldn't mind seeing him throwing bombs at Hillary and McCain that hobble their bids as he travels through Iowa's cornfields and the ice cream socials in New Hampshire.

Newt is brilliant. Perhaps the next best job for him is Karl Rove's.
-- Mrs. Jackson

Yes, there is only one Newt. But the last time he had power and we counted on him, he had the same zipper trouble as the man he pursued.

Newt is the smartest guy in the room, but he always has embarrassing woman trouble. How about we just listen to what he has to say, but don't give him the power to disappoint -- again?
-- Judy Beumler
Louisville, Kentucky

Mr. Macomber's essay on the return of Newt Gingrich evokes the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene when John Cleese accuses, "She turned me into a newt!....Well, I've gotten better." Perhaps Mr. Macomber should utter the follow-up, "Well, maybe I haven't gotten better after all."

I was a true disciple of The Newt from the beginning of the 1980s. I wanted him to run for president because I was impressed by all his impressive ideas. When he became the leader of the Republican opposition in 1992, I was heartened, only to be betrayed in 1995 when he finally achieved real power. Unfortunately, conservatives have avoided analysis of what happened in the mid-1990s in favor of a bunch of mythology.

First, it was not just the Contract With America, which led to the Republican triumph in the 1994 off-term elections. Probably that was not even mainly responsible. For two years the Republicans, inspired and led by Gingrich, had waged a campaign against the Clinton corruptions. Not just Whitewater. There were the purloined FBI files, domestic spying, misuse of the IRS for political purposes. "Who hired Craig Livingstone?" The subornation of the FBI. The Waco massacre. What really happened to Vince Foster? The high-handed method of trying to introduce Hillary Care, including the highly questionable appointment of Hillary to head the commission. The abuses of the army, attempting to turn it into a White House catering staff at the top and a homosexual haven in the ranks. Disappearance of subpoenaed Whitewater files, and much, much, more. For those who do not remember, they need only go back and review the 1993-1994 archives of TAS. This is just to mention corruption while passing over legal, but bad policy choices and personnel appointments. And of course the continuous deceptive Clintonoid word-weaseling. Newt led a truly heroic battle against all of this, and against corruption by Democratic congressmen as well.

Everyone sensed that the first order of business could, and should be impeachment of Clinton for serious crimes against the Constitution, (not for sexual improprieties and perjury). Newt's Contract of blessed memory was an afterthought compared to the truly important task of restoring some semblance of honesty and constitutionalism to American government.

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