Has Newt Gingrich been on TV too long to get elected?
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was on 鈥�Meet the Press鈥� Sunday and said a lot of things that have sparked media coverage of the visit.
For instance, he noted that he鈥檚 opposed to GOP Rep. Paul Ryan鈥檚 big proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher-like program 鈥� 鈥渢oo big a jump,鈥� in Mr. Gingrich鈥檚 view.
He sounded like he sort of favors the provision in President Obama鈥檚 health care reforms requiring people to have health insurance 鈥� the so-called 鈥渋ndividual mandate,鈥� which many other Republicans oppose.
And he delivered the type of big-think quote for which he is famous: 鈥淲e are at a crossroads in our core values as a country 鈥� what does it mean to be an American?鈥� he told host David Gregory.
But as to his future in the upcoming presidential primaries, the most important thing uttered on the program may have been a simple, two-digit number. In welcoming Gingrich at the top of the show, Mr. Gregory noted that it was the former House Speaker鈥檚 35th appearance on 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥�
And that is one of the ex-Georgia lawmaker鈥檚 biggest electoral problems. He鈥檚 been arguing on news shows for so long that he is hardly a fresh face. He was first elected to Congress in 1980 鈥� six years before the Fox Network, and Fox News, even went on the air.
Will voters see him as the same old, same old? That has yet to be determined. But one thing is certain: there is lots of video of him saying lots of stuff over many years, and right now production assistants for every major news show are combing through that archive, looking for trouble. Trouble for Newt, that is.
Sunday鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� episode was a good example of the style of interview Gingrich will face. Gregory ticked off a list of issues on which Gingrich has weighed in on the past, in manners which might be problematic today, and then put up clips of Gingrich saying those problematic things.
Given the current political environment in the Republican Party, Gingrich might wish that he could be a little vague on the individual mandate, for example. But when you鈥檝e been opining for as long as he has, that鈥檚 not an option.
鈥淏ack in 1993, on this program, this is what you said about the individual mandate,鈥� said Gregory, introducing a clip.
1993? Sarah Palin had just been elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1993. Isn鈥檛 there a statute of limitations for stuff you鈥檝e said on Sunday talk shows? Five years, maybe.
Anyway, what Gingrich said 18 years ago: 鈥淚 am for people ... having health insurance and being required to have health insurance, and I am prepared to vote for a voucher system, which will give individuals on a sliding scale a government subsidy so we ensure that everyone, as individuals, have health insurance.鈥�
Doesn鈥檛 that sound like what the GOP today calls 鈥�ObamaCare鈥�? It did to Gregory, and he pressed Gingrich to explain. Now, Gingrich had an explanation as to why he did not like a full federal system involved in this health care process, and how the individual mandate could be less onerous, but the point here is that he had to spend a few minutes of his TV face time explaining all this and defending his past position.
And he may need to do something similar during every major upcoming appearance. And when you鈥檙e running for president, you want to talk about the future, not the past.
For Newt Gingrich, that may be a difficult proposition.
