Newt Gingrich in the media crosshairs
Newt Gingrich, welcome to the top of the pack.
After Herman Cain鈥檚 rapid ascent, journalists everywhere turned their poison pens to the new GOP frontrunner. We detailed .
Now, it鈥檚 Gingrich鈥檚 turn.
That first quote is from where other brainy conservatives take the former Speaker鈥檚 intellectual bona fides down a peg.
Then, you might consider a look at these two pieces, one from and one from , that delve into Gingrich鈥檚 work as a lobbyist advocate in his think tank and two for-profit groups which raked in $100 million in revenue over the last decade.
While Gingrich has vowed he was never a lobbyist, one conservative scholar at the American Enterprise Institute - where Gingrich once held a post - notes that 鈥渋f I were to write a Wikipedia definition of lobbying it might not be all that different from their description鈥� while adding that Gingrich鈥檚 enterprises 鈥渕ay have avoided lobbying members face to face.鈥�
That鈥檚 in addition to Bloomberg鈥檚 widely-reported findings of Gingrich鈥檚 work for favored conservative punching bag (and government-sponsored mortgage behemoth) Freddie Mac, which .
And that鈥檚 all before he raised a decidedly non-GOP mainstream opinion (at least among the other candidates) about immigration in last night鈥檚 GOP debate. Fox News called the following 鈥溾��:
鈥淚 do not believe that the people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter century 鈥� who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community, who may have done something 25 years ago 鈥� separate them from their families, and expel them. 鈥� I don鈥檛 see how the 鈥� the party that says it鈥檚 the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century. And I鈥檓 prepared to take the heat for saying: Let鈥檚 be humane in enforcing the law 鈥� without giving them citizenship, but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their families.鈥�
Keep your eyes peeled for long-form stories about Gingrich鈥檚 background over the next several weeks. It will be key to determining whether the candidate can hold up while his record comes under intense scrutiny.
What鈥檚 the value of such scrutiny? Isn鈥檛 this just digging up old skeletons? Isn鈥檛 the future more important? In some sense, yes. But as Mitt Romney is dogged with every day, voters are often as concerned - and rightly so - with what candidates have done in their past, not what they say they鈥檒l do in the future.
Go beyond:
- Curious about Newt? Check out to see if he鈥檒l be at an event near you.
- Missed last night鈥檚 debate? Read the transcript .
- Read Coginitive Dissonance鈥檚 .
Like your politics unscrambled? Check out
