×
Newt Gingrich's continuing reputation as an "ideas man" and political visionary is one of the stranger phenomena in modern politics, and, for liberals, one of conservatism's happier blind spots. Who better to serve as the intellectual engine of a brain dead movement than a guy whose latest obsession is ending adolescence? (No, I'm not kidding.) Gingrich is what a shallow political thinker believes a deep political thinker looks like: A guy with a constant stream of grand theories and paradigm-busting ideas and sharp quotes. And so, after an election that turned, in part, on the contrast between the Democratic ticket's obvious comfort with national policy and the Republican ticket's inability to speak coherently on economics, Robert Novak reports:
In serious conversations among Republicans since their election debacle Tuesday, what name is mentioned most often as the Moses, or Reagan, who could lead them out of the wilderness before 40 years?To the consternation of many Republicans, it is none other than Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House.As a strong supporter of Gingrich/Moses return to national politics, I hope those unnamed Republicans get all that, uh, consterning out of their system and unite behind the guy who thinks today's kids are too lazy. That's the sort of fresh energy and youthful dynamism the GOP needs right now.
