I seem to have hit a raw nerve with Quin Hillyer when I asked him if he would support President Obama should Newt Gingrich be the GOP nominee in 2012. Here is his reply in the comments section of the blog post:

Aaron,

Get real, man. Can you even read? I used the Duke example to explain, at length, how VOTERS can process information in a way that makes them akin to jury nullifiers. What they see themselves becomes more important than older evidence to the contrary. That’s it. In no way did I compare Gingrich to Duke. And of course I would personally vote for Gingrich over Obama.

As for Duke, I have every good reason to use his example to make a political point, seeing as how I was a leader in the effort to block him. I spent three solid years fighting against him, and thus had plenty of opportunity to study, and learn from, what made him so sickeningly successful.

While Quin might believe I am functionally illiterate, let me assure him that I am well aware of his efforts against Duke with the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism & Nazism and he is to be commended for it. However, it doesn’t make him immune from criticism.

Quin insists to the high heavens that “in no way did I compare Gingrich to Duke.” Well, let’s read Quin’s concluding paragraph, shall we:

A leopard can’t change its spots. A grand wizard Kluxer under his sheets (à la David Duke) can hide his wizardry. And no debate can help Newt alter his lizardry.

Hmmmm, it would appear that Quin just made a comparison between Newt Gingrich and David Duke.

I fully realize that Quin isn’t likening Newt to Duke because of the latter’s racism and anti-Semitism. But notwithstanding Quin’s first-hand experience with Duke, are we to believe there is no other person in American politics, past or present, he could have picked to stand along side Newt in this article? It’s fairly safe to say that most Americans don’t care for Duke very much. So when someone utter Duke’s name while talking about another person it is usually done for the purpose of casting that individual in the most negative light possible.

But in fairness to Quin, he did ultimately answer my question. Despite the fact that Quin believes Newt possesses an “utter disdain for real individual liberty”, “wouldn’t trust Gingrich in power any farther than I could throw a Mack truck with my pinkie” not to mention Gingrich’s “erraticism, his emotional instability, and other unseemly characteristics”, I am delighted to hear that Newt can count on Quin’s support in 2012 should he earn the Republican Party’s nomination.