As debate approaches, Republicans, conservatives target Newt Gingrich
When you鈥檙e the front-runner in your party鈥檚 presidential nominating race, as Newt Gingrich is today, you must get used to having a bulls-eye on your back.
To put it another way, Ronald Reagan鈥檚 11th Commandment 鈥� 鈥淭hou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican鈥� 鈥� will be tossed aside as the other candidates and their surrogates pile on like defensive linemen on a scrambling quarterback.
That鈥檚 the situation Gingrich finds himself in today as some who served with him when he was House Speaker in the 1990s, Republican strategists working today to oust Barack Obama, and conservative pundits unsheathe their rhetorical knives.
Saturday night is an important point in the GOP鈥檚 nominating race 鈥� a debate at Drake University听颈苍 Des Moines, Iowa. Gingrich will be the center of attention in a smaller group of six debaters, since Herman Cain is history and Jon Huntsman got disinvited because his poll numbers are so low.
The voices of criticism are numerous and growing.
John Sununu, former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush: 鈥淕ingrich 鈥渋s more concerned about Newt Gingrich than he is about conservative principle.鈥�
Former Sen. Jim Talent, who served in the House when Gingrich was Speaker: 鈥淗e鈥檚 not a reliable or trustworthy leader.鈥�
Sen. Tom Coburn, who also served with Gingrich in the House: 鈥淚 just found his leadership lacking.鈥� (A year ago, Coburn was quoted as saying that Gingrich is 鈥渢he last person I鈥檇 vote for president of the United States [because] his life indicates he does not have the character traits necessary.")
Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum: 鈥淲hat presidents must inescapably do is respond to emergencies鈥�. And there, what usually ends up mattering most is not the president鈥檚 philosophy, but his judgment, coolness and steadiness. Those are the grounds on which [Mitt] Romney reassures and Gingrich terrifies.鈥�
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Some evangelicals have said they鈥檝e forgiven Gingrich for the adulterous relationships that ended his first two marriages.
But not The Rev. Cary Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach church in Sioux City, Iowa. He鈥檚 sent a YouTube video slamming Gingrich as untrustworthy to one million cell phones in Iowa. Gingrich, , is 鈥淭he Kim Kardashian of the GOP.
鈥淢y vote is not connected to someone else鈥檚 repentance, it鈥檚 connected to their record,鈥� Gordon told Politico.com. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust him and I have no reason to trust him. He has done nothing to earn my trust.鈥�
Meanwhile, the conservative commentariat has laid into Gingrich as well.
鈥淗e has every negative character trait that conservatives associate with 鈥�60s excess: narcissism, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and intemperance,鈥� writes New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks. 鈥淎s nearly everyone who has ever worked with him knows, he would severely damage conservatism and the Republican Party if nominated.鈥�
Like Brooks, Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal says Gingrich鈥檚 temperament and character would be his (and likely his party鈥檚) undoing.
鈥淗e's philosophically unanchored, an unstable element,鈥� she writes. 鈥淭here are too many storms within him, and he seeks out external storms in order to equalize his own atmosphere. He's a trouble magnet, a starter of fights that need not be fought鈥�. He is a human hand grenade who walks around with his hand on the pin, saying, 鈥榃atch this!鈥欌��
Speaking on ABC, conservative Washington Post columnist George Will said Gingrich 鈥渆mbodies almost everything disagreeable about modern Washington.鈥�
鈥淕ingrich has a self-regard so immense that it rivals Obama鈥檚 鈥� but, unlike Obama鈥檚, is untamed by self-discipline,鈥� charges Charles Krauthammer, Will鈥檚 fellow conservative on the Washington Post op-ed page.
Gingrich, Krauthammer wrote last week, is 鈥減ossessed of an unbounded need for grand display that has already led him to unconservative places even he is at a loss to explain, and that as president would leave him in constant search of the out-of-box experience 鈥� the confoundedly brilliant Nixon-to-China flipperoo regarding his fancy of the day, be it health care, taxes, energy, foreign policy, whatever.鈥�
And those are just Gingrich鈥檚 fellow Republicans. You can imagine what use Democrats will make of that if Gingrich becomes the Republican nominee.
It will be interesting to see if Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry pick up on the same themes at Saturday night鈥檚 debate.
