海角大神

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Friday said something telling about his recent staff troubles during an interview on CNBC鈥檚 鈥淪quawk Box.鈥� The reason he鈥檇 clashed with his now ex-campaign consultants, he said, was because 鈥渢hey say you should only talk about three things鈥�.

So that鈥檚 it! We鈥檝e got some sympathy for the ex-Speaker here. He talks like the late novelist David Foster Wallace wrote 鈥� in long, discursive sentences whose clauses curl back on themselves, crashing higher and higher, until his rhetoric becomes a tidal wave of words. In an interview Mr. Gingrich can talk about three things before you even get a question out. Some days you鈥檇 swear he could talk about three things without even opening his mouth.

Let鈥檚 look at that same 鈥淪quawk Box鈥� discussion as an example. Opining about President Obama鈥檚 announcement that he鈥檒l release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Gingrich said this was a bad idea, and noted, as an aside, that the salt caverns which hold the oil in question can only be emptied and refilled six times, because fresh water is used in the process, and that leaches salt out of the cavern walls.

Can Tim Pawlenty talk about the effects of Obama鈥檚 decision on cavern wall integrity? We don鈥檛 think so. (We鈥檙e also not sure Newt is right there, to be honest.)

Then Gingrich moved on to say that President Obama wants people to drive Martian cars. We鈥檙e not making that up.

Gingrich started this train of thought by saying 鈥渢he problem with liberalism is that all its ideas are terrific if they don鈥檛 happen.鈥� Then he said, 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 you love to be in a brand new vehicle invented by Martians, which uses no energy, lasts forever, and is terrific?鈥�

鈥淯nfortunately, it doesn鈥檛 exist. But that鈥檚 the president鈥檚 energy policy,鈥� said Gingrich.

See, Newt鈥檚 old staff probably did tell him to focus on a handful of talking points, over and over. That鈥檚 standard political consulto-babble, straight out of 鈥淭he Candidate,鈥� the old Robert Redford movie about how consultants manipulate candidates.

It probably drove Gingrich nuts. But in his case, was it right? Voters may just find his verbal dexterity distracting. Worse yet for his candidacy鈥檚 prospects, Gingrich鈥檚 words continue to get him in occasional trouble. Thursday night in a speech to Maryland Republicans, Gingrich said that Democratic economic policies have disastrous for African-Americans and that 鈥淏arack Obama is the best food stamp president in American history鈥�.

Gingrich was making the case that the GOP might be able to attract more minority voters. But he鈥檚 used that line before, and Democrats reacted furiously, complaining that it had overtones of racism.

However, in the end it might be money that鈥檚 the Gingrich campaign鈥檚 biggest problem, not the candidate鈥檚 words. Quarterly presidential campaign finance reports are due in to the Federal Election Commission at the end of June, and there鈥檚 a chance Gingrich鈥檚 may be written in red ink. According to , Gingrich is making little effort to raise money, and the campaign filing will show a debt.

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