海角大神

Newt Gingrich: Talking 'crazy' or 'crazy like a fox'?

Newt Gingrich is 'too crazy' or  'too impulsive' to be president, according to the Romney campaign 鈥� and the GOP establishment. Will that tactic work?

As the Mitt Romney campaign turns their guns full force on Newt Gingrich, we鈥檙e noticing a not-so-subtle subtext in their arguments against him. In essence, they seem to be hinting:聽this guy is a little crazy.

In a media conference call yesterday, Romney supporter and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu referred to Gingrich鈥檚 鈥渋rrational behavior,鈥� while former Missouri Sen. Jim聽Talent called him 鈥�not a reliable or trustworthy leader鈥� and accused him of聽鈥渟aying outrageous things that come from nowhere.鈥�

And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, stumping for Romney in Iowa, had this to say (he did not mention Gingrich by name, but the inference is clear):

鈥淲hen you look at candidates, say: 鈥業s this the kind of person who鈥檚 always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and [I鈥檒l] never have to worry will embarrass America? That I鈥檒l never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed?鈥欌�澛�

Moreover, it鈥檚 not just Romney surrogates making this point.聽Here鈥檚 former Gingrich aide Rich Galen,听, describing Gingrich鈥檚 鈥渆rratic鈥� management style:

鈥淗e had a new idea every 13 seconds. He just made everyone crazy. There was too much turmoil.鈥�

And Wall Street Journal 肠辞濒耻尘苍颈蝉迟听Peggy Noonan calls Gingrich a "human hand grenade." In a searing column today, about how many establishment Republicans are absolutely terrified at the prospect of Gingrich becoming the party nominee:

鈥淲hat they fear is that [Gingrich] will show just enough discipline over the next few months, just enough focus, to win the nomination. And then, in the fall of 2012, once party leaders have come around and the GOP is fully behind him, he will begin baying at the moon. He will start saying wild things and promising that he may bomb Iran but he may send a special SEAL team in at night to secretly dig Iran up, and fly it to Detroit, where we can keep it under guard, and Detroiters can all get jobs as guards, 鈥榮olving two problems at once.鈥欌��

In some ways this line of attack is reminiscent of the 鈥渢emperament鈥� argument used against Sen. John McCain, that to be trusted with the nuclear codes.聽

But while Decoder agrees that Gingrich鈥檚 temperament is a potential weak point - voters generally don鈥檛 want a president who seems overly impulsive or untrustworthy - all the attacks from the GOP 鈥渆stablishment鈥� could also help him claim the 鈥渙utsider鈥� mantle in the race. In fact, part of what conservative base seems to be responding to in Gingrich right now is his bombastic, flame-throwing, willing-to-get-in-there-and-shake-things-up style.

And so聽far, Gingrich has done a good job of refusing to respond to the attacks, while remaining relatively positive, disciplined, and on-message.聽

To be sure, voters don鈥檛 want 鈥渃razy.鈥� But when it comes to Gingrich, they may see it as 鈥渃razy like a fox.鈥� And that might not be a bad thing.

Like your politics unscrambled? Check out