The richly earned humiliation of Newt Gingrich
No one has ever endured such a terrible first month as a presidential candidate -- nor deserved to more
By Steve Kornacki
Salon.com
If his goal when he officially launched his presidential candidacy last month was to inflict a massive amount of humiliation on himself in as short a time as possible, then Newt Gingrich has succeeded spectacularly.
After an epically botched campaign roll-out -- which included accusations of ideological treason from influential conservatives and a nationally televised exchange with an Iowa voter who called him "an embarrassment to our party" and urged him to quit the race "before you make a bigger fool of yourself" -- Gingrich was left struggling to explain how he and his wife racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges at Tiffany's jewelers. Then he randomly took off on a vacation (a lavish Greek cruise, it turned out), and now he's returned to find that virtually his entire staff has quit.
Does this latest development change the presidential race in any significant way? Not really. Since even before his month from hell, Gingrich had no realistic chance of winning the GOP nomination, and not since the 1990s has he been a significant force on the right. Most conservative activists and opinion-shapers long ago tuned him out.
But much of the political media world never quite figured this out, instead treating Gingrich for the last decade as an enduring relevant national leader. The instinct was understandable: The celebrity (and notoriety) he attained during his mid-'90s stint as House Speaker never fully faded, and he could always be counted on for a lively, provocative quote or two.
(Original here.)
By Steve Kornacki
Salon.com
If his goal when he officially launched his presidential candidacy last month was to inflict a massive amount of humiliation on himself in as short a time as possible, then Newt Gingrich has succeeded spectacularly.
After an epically botched campaign roll-out -- which included accusations of ideological treason from influential conservatives and a nationally televised exchange with an Iowa voter who called him "an embarrassment to our party" and urged him to quit the race "before you make a bigger fool of yourself" -- Gingrich was left struggling to explain how he and his wife racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges at Tiffany's jewelers. Then he randomly took off on a vacation (a lavish Greek cruise, it turned out), and now he's returned to find that virtually his entire staff has quit.
Does this latest development change the presidential race in any significant way? Not really. Since even before his month from hell, Gingrich had no realistic chance of winning the GOP nomination, and not since the 1990s has he been a significant force on the right. Most conservative activists and opinion-shapers long ago tuned him out.
But much of the political media world never quite figured this out, instead treating Gingrich for the last decade as an enduring relevant national leader. The instinct was understandable: The celebrity (and notoriety) he attained during his mid-'90s stint as House Speaker never fully faded, and he could always be counted on for a lively, provocative quote or two.
(Original here.)
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