Last week, Newt Gingrich proposed settlements on the moon leading to statehood, which would leave us with six states less than Obama has visited, but is a stunning idea all the same. Left unaddressed were the really big issues: If the moon were a state, how many votes would it have in the Electoral College? How would one campaign there?
How would its senators commute to the Senate? How big and expensive would its media market be? And would this moon be a red state, or blue?
Was it coincidence that it was the day after this that the Republican Establishment — such as it is — unleashed a barrage out of multiple cannons aimed purely at axing his bid?
His aides put it out that this was the last gasp of a dying old order, and that this was Reagan vs. Gerald Ford redux. But this hardly is accurate. Why are ex-Reagan aides, the likes of Ann Coulter, and Tea Party heroes against Newt or neutral?
Do not imagine this is your normal political schism, between two different wings of a party, or interest groups, or different parts of the country. This is a split between the sane and the unbalanced.
This is the rare case of people across the political spectrum, and even the conservative wing that Gingrich says he belongs to, saying virtually as one that this candidate is not fit to serve in the office of president, and should not be allowed near the job.
Much abuse has been showered upon the establishment, but it has its uses, of which this is one. Think of it as an Angie’s List for the voters, a users guide to consumers of politics, wondering which applicant for the position of president they ought to hire, that is, vote for, next.
Angie’s List is the service that solicits reviews from employers of workers — contractors, plumbers, all kinds of repairmen — who report what it’s like to have dealt with these people: If they were honest, if they gave value for money and if their work was done well.
The legion of pros endorsing Mitt Romney, including governors, members of Congress, party officials, are those who “employed” or saw Gingrich in action, and are warning that he was bad news.
He was tardy, erratic, and ran way over budget. He could come up with a terrific plan to make over your kitchen, but would flood the basement, set the oven on fire, tear up the flooring, and trample your plants.
There were also unexpected expenses that occurred on the way: Ann Coulter said he gave you the bath water and threw out the baby. National Review wrote in December, “Again and again he combined incendiary rhetoric with irresolute action, bringing Republicans all the political costs of a hard line position without actually taking one.”
Bill Clinton sank Bob Dole by running against the ‘Dole-Gingrich ticket,’ (even though Dole’s vice president running mate was really Jack Kemp).
After the assault, Newt hastened to verify all its assumptions: each interview was a four-hour whine of self-pity about his mistreatment by others.
Gingrich picked the day Rick Santorum left the campaign to be with his deathly ill child to demand that he drop out of the race in his favor. Way to go, Newt, you’ve got wonderful timing. What a prince of a person you are.
There are certain descriptions you want for a leader, but “Drama King” isn’t among them. On the other hand, if you’re planning a lunar colony, he could be your ticket. Look him up on the List under “Moon.”
Examiner Columnist Noemie Emery is contributing editor to TheWeekly Standard and author of “Great Expectations: The Troubled Lives of Political Families.”
