Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain held a 90-minute debate Saturday night in The Woodlands, Texas. The subject was entitlement reform, and it came as no surprise to anyone that Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, 20-year congressman, and legendary policy wonk, knew a lot more about entitlement reform than Cain, the former talk radio host and Godfather’s Pizza CEO. In fact, the Gingrich-Cain debate pitted the candidate with the most detailed policy knowledge against the candidate with the least detailed knowledge. It was a good thing for Cain that it was a friendly encounter; if Gingrich had wanted to run circles around Cain, he could have.
So what was the purpose of the debate from Gingrich’s standpoint? On Friday afternoon, while Gingrich was in Iowa for what turned out to be a very well-received speech at the state Republican party’s Reagan dinner, I asked Gingrich why he and Cain would face off by themselves. If the subject was policy, wasn’t it a mismatch?
“First of all, it’s not going to be a debate,” Gingrich said. “It’s going to be a dialogue. I suspect we will both profit from the fact that seeing pleasant adults actually have a conversation is such a relief from the baloney that now goes on. I can’t tell you many people have talked to me about bickering. I’m not surprised that Romney has dropped six points in Rasmussen [and] the degree to which both he and Perry were hurt by this sense of seventh graders arguing. So what Herman and I will do — I mean, Herman’s a smart guy. He’s not a policy wonk and he hasn’t been Speaker of the House, but he’s a smart guy. And so he will have some very useful insights about entitlement reform, and I’ll have hopefully some useful insights, and we’ll just talk. And we’ll see how it works. I mean, if it works right, we may do it in a couple more places, because it’s such a different tone.”
Gingrich’s words, plus a look at his standing in the Republican presidential race, suggest three reasons why the Cain debate might turn out to be a benefit for the Gingrich campaign. First, Gingrich understands that many Republican voters are disgusted by the arguing that has taken place at GOP debates. They want to see it stop. To the degree that Gingrich is seen as participating in civil discussions, it’s a plus for him. (And that is on top of the benefits Gingrich reaped by being generous to his adversaries during the Reagan dinner Friday.)
Second, Gingrich, now in third place in the Republican race nationally, benefits from being seen on friendly terms with the frontrunner Cain. At the end of the debate, Cain made a joke about the possibility of Gingrich being on a Cain ticket. For Gingrich, it doesn’t matter how unlikely such a scenario is. Cain enjoys the goodwill of a lot of Republican voters, and it can’t hurt Gingrich if some of that goodwill is now reflected on him after a friendly and mutually-admiring debate in Texas.
Third, and most important, Gingrich could gain support in the future by moving closer to Cain now. At the moment, Cain has the very dedicated support of many conservative Republicans. But after the rise and fall of Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, many Republican insiders do not expect Cain to go the distance for the Republican nomination. If Cain were to fade, it’s not a bad thing for Gingrich if Cain’s supporters think of Gingrich fondly. Should they find themselves looking for a new candidate to support, they might well turn to the former Speaker, who for many was their second choice all along. At that moment, Gingrich could become the main challenger to frontrunner Mitt Romney.
Of course, there’s one more reason for the debate that has nothing to do with the campaign: Gingrich likes Cain. The two men have known each other for quite a while and get along well. But because of the particular circumstances of the Republican race at this moment, the Gingrich-Cain debate offered Gingrich benefits beyond friendship. Gingrich helped himself by meeting Cain at The Woodlands Saturday night. It’s no wonder he’s thinking about doing it again.
