Was Newt Gingrich really all that close to Ronald Reagan?
Does Newt Gingrich have a Ronald Reagan problem? Specifically, by wrapping himself in the Gipper鈥檚 mantle, is the ex-speaker risking criticism that鈥檚 he鈥檚 misrepresenting the past?
There鈥檚 no doubt that Mr. Gingrich is the GOP candidate who鈥檚 been most aggressive about portraying himself as a 鈥淩eagan conservative鈥� (his words). He mentioned the late president just four words into his first answer in Monday night鈥檚 debate, as New York Times polling analyst .
Over the course of the GOP debating schedule, Gingrich has mentioned Mr. Reagan 55 times, according to Silver. That鈥檚 more than the rest of the Republican field, combined.
It鈥檚 easy to see why Gingrich would do this. It鈥檚 a way of painting his past service in Congress in a rosy glow. Reagan remains a beloved icon to conservatives, who make up the bulk of the pro-Gingrich vote. Why shouldn鈥檛 Gingrich point out that they worked together and shared some policy beliefs?
Well, for one thing, it opens the door for Mitt Romney to try and portray Gingrich as a waterboy who鈥檚 misunderestimating how well he knew the captain of the football team. In Monday鈥檚 debate, Romney noted that the word 鈥淕ingrich鈥� appears once in Reagan鈥檚 diaries. Even that once is a negative, as it notes that Newt at the time is opposing some Reagan defense policies.
鈥淔rom debates, you鈥檇 think that Newt Gingrich was Ronald Reagan鈥檚 vice president. Gingrich exaggerates,鈥� paid for the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future that鈥檚 currently running in Florida.
More stingingly, the noted neo-con and ex-Reagan State Department official Elliott Abrams penned a piece posted Wednesday at National Review Online that calls Gingrich鈥檚 claims of fellowship with Reagan 鈥渕isleading at best,鈥� particularly in regards to foreign policy.
Those were years when Democrats in Congress fought bitterly with the Reagan White House over the latter鈥檚 efforts to halt Soviet adventurism in the Third World. Remember the Nicaraguan Contras? Mr. Abrams does, and he does not remember Gingrich helping much as Reagan fought to maintain Contras funding.
鈥淢r. Gingrich voted with the president regularly, but equally often spewed insulting rhetoric at Reagan, his top aides, and his policies to defeat Communism. Gingrich was voluble and certain in predicting that Reagan 鈥榮 policies would fail, and in all of this he was dead wrong,鈥� .
(Yes, yes, we remember Iran-Contra too 鈥� but that鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e talking about at the moment.)
Abrams resurrects a particularly unfortunate (for Gingrich) quote from 1985, in which the then-congressman called a looming meeting between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev 鈥渢he most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.鈥�
Now, whether GOP primary voters will care about this tiff over the long-ago is something else entirely. It鈥檚 certainly not cooling their enthusiasm for Gingrich at the moment: , Gingrich has erased Romney鈥檚 23-point national lead among Republicans in one week.
That鈥檚 not a swing in support. It鈥檚 a stampede.
鈥淭he two candidates are now essentially tied,鈥� writes Gallup editor Frank Newport.
Plus, Gingrich has a pretty big hammer of his own to swing at Romney. Or rather, the pro-Gingrich "super PAC" Winning Our Future does. This organization is spending $6 million to run an ad that depicts Romney as a moderate and progressive. Among other things, 鈥淢itt Romney invented government-run health care.鈥�
Ouch. That鈥檚 got to worry the Romney campaign.
