May 14, 2006
Run, Newt, Run!
Gingrich Says Hillary Clinton Is Beatable
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich agrees that Sen. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic front-runner should she make a bid for president in 2008. But winning, he says, is another matter.
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“But I think, you know, she has a lot of challenges, and there’s a question whether or not there’s a ceiling, that when you got down to the Hillary/anti-Hillary, whether or not she can break 50 percent in primaries,” Gingrich said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Calling Clinton “formidable” as a presidential candidate, Gingrich said: “If we beat her we’re going to beat her with better ideas. We’re not going to beat her with some kind of negative campaign.”
That might be tough. The Republicans haven’t been espousing any real ideas lately, so there will need to be a strong figure out there who can articulate positive ideas. And with George W. Bush in office, the Republicans haven’t had someone who can articulate, either.
Hillary can win in 2008. Going negative against Hillary won’t really work, because the people who hate her aren’t going to be persuaded, and the people who don’t hate her may even feel sorry for her. Nope, to beat her, we need a strong candidate. I don’t think the Republican party is ready to get behind Giuliani, so that leaves McCain & Gingrich.
Gingrich downplayed suggestions that he might be plotting his own run for president.
“I doubt it at this point,” he said. “I’m not ruling out running, but I’m also saying we have real things to do in ‘06. We have real things to do in ‘07. And it’ll be nice to have a couple of years of talking about solutions, not just talking about ambitions.”
That makes things difficult. Much like Doug, I can’t see myself voting McCain. We need Newt in this race. He’s a Republican that can salvage the Republican/Libertarian coalition that Bush has nearly destroyed. He has enough credibility amongst real conservatives (something McCain doesn’t have), is a very inspirational speaker, and has been out of office during the most recent stint where the Republicans have imploded— thus he is not tainted by their failures.
If Newt runs in 2008, I will do everything I can to see him get elected. I can’t say that about every Republican on the short list, and wouldn’t even vote for a couple of them. While most politicians are quick to demagogue, Newt offers solutions. And that’s what we need these days.
PS – I checked out Newt’s site, and apparently he’s an avid futurist… He sees the future the same way I do, which is another major plus.
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Brad,
I saw Newt on Meet the Press yesterday and couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, he’s as much of a maverick now as he was before the 1994 elections and I’m afraid that the powers-that-be in the GOP want nothing to do with him.
Perhaps you’re right. They’d rather have their “maverick” McCain, a beltway insider so inside the system that he’s willing to destroy free speech to make sure he never has to leave…
I have to think, though, that with the external disgust with the Republican party, it doesn’t really matter what the powers-that-be think. Primary voters are very conservative, and most love Newt. An early groundswell of support could really get some attention. The powers-that-be might not like him, but I’m sure they’ve never been accused of not riding coattails from time to time.
I like Guiliani the most, but I like Newt, too. Too bad neither of them can avoid dissing their spouses in much the same fashion at Clinton. I used to not care about such things, but that issue was such a clue to Clinton’s true character, that I’m not sure I can avoid it anymore. But I still like their ability to explain ideas, and ideas I like, and trust them on foreign policy. Which is the most important job of the President nowadays.
KJ,
I admire Guliani for the way he led NYC after 9/11 and for the way that he cleaned up New York, but I don’t think I’d want to see him as President. I have doubts about his committment to small government as well as his belief in fiscal restraint. That said, he’d made a great Attorney General.
As for Newt’s marriage troubles, I honestly don’t think they would matter in 2008. That was an issue in the late 90’s when he stepped aside as Speaker, I don’t see it being an issue today.