Rush Limbaugh compares Newt Gingrich’s attacks on Mitt Romney with Ross Perot’s destructive assault on George H.W. Bush in 1992. It’s a thought-provoking comparison.

But here’s one thought provoked by the comparison: Deploring the attacks is not enough. Even if Perot was partly motivated by personal spite against Bush, as Rush suggests, Perot was onto something. His focus on the deficit, and his more general critique of an out-of-touch Republican candidate and establishment, got him 19 million votes—despite a ridiculous performance as a candidate.