Fool them twice

Newt Gingrich’s former couch buddy Nancy Pelosi can’t leave the Florida primary well enough alone. And I can’t leave Nancy alone. On top of ABC’s antics in perfectly timing the ex-wife smear so that it would inflame the red meat base, now is the time that Pelosi has chosen to let loose with a double secret “allegation” which amounts to a great big nothing:

Pelosi: “He’s not going to be President of the United States. That’s not going to happen. Let me just make my prediction and stand by it, it isn’t going to happen.”

King: “Why are you so sure?”

Pelosi: “There is something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him that’s their prerogative. I don’t even think that’s going to happen.”

As if on cue, Gingrich immediately turned around and told his friend to put up or shut up:

“There’s almost a level of hysteria about the prospect of somebody who really wants to change Washington,” said Mr. Gingrich to host John McCaslin.

“I have a simple challenge for Speaker Pelosi…you know, put up or shut up. I mean, I have no idea what she’s talking about. I don’t think she has any idea what she’s talking about, but bring it on,” he said.

“My life has been looked at by lots of people and I’ve been around a long time. And I just think that when you are a left-wing Democrat, the prospect of a Gingrich presidency is really sort of like a nightmare,” Mr. Gingrich added.

I have to say this for Gingrich. He is quite adept at saying precisely what the red meat base wants to hear, when they most want to hear it.

It was nice of Nancy (one of the most reviled lefties in the history of red meat conservatism) to pick such a time to play stick-it-to-Gingrich. I’m sure Newt is very grateful, and both he and Nancy are clucking over the fact that many red-meat primary voters are unaware that there might be such a thing as reverse psychology. The ABC stunt worked in South Carolina, so why not do it again?

At the heart of the reverse psychology game is  seemingly plausible meme: The left is “going all out” to destroy Gingrich now, because they fear his candidacy.

Look. There are four candidates. Why on earth would the left most fear the candidate who not only does the poorest against Obama, (Gingrich continues to trail the President in the double digits) but who has the worst negatives? Common sense would suggest that Newt is the best choice for Obama to run against.

I might be wrong, of course, and I freely admit my bias, and my Gingrichphobia. I also may be what Allah calls a “febrile political junkie who loves to obsess over political mind games.”

…If you’re a Mitt fan, the answer is clear — she knows something from having served on the ethics committee when Newt was reprimanded and it’s only a matter of time before it comes out. If you’re a Newt fan, the answer is also clear — this is a classic case of the left telling you who it really fears by trying to sink him before he can gain any more electoral momentum. And if you’re a febrile political junkie who loves to obsess over political mind games, the answer is equally clear — Pelosi does know something, and she also knows that attacking Gingrich publicly this way will rally conservatives behind him, so she’s happy to do it precisely because it’ll help Newt win, which is just what Democrats want. Hmmmmm.

It would be one thing if this were the first time. But the fact is that Newt thrives on being bashed by the left, so if they want to help him, this is a great time to go after him with “everything they’ve got.” Especially if it’s old news like his failed marriage, or a big pile of nothing like Nancy Pelosi’s “I’ve got a secret” game.

It’s a lovely game.

MORE: FWIW, American Spectator Editor R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr. has been around for awhile, and known Newt from day one. In no uncertain terms, he warns conservatives that they are being had:

Newt is hustling my fellow conservatives in this election. The last time around he successfully hustled conservatives in the House of Representatives and then the conservatives on the House impeachment committee.

He blew the impeachment and in fact his role as Speaker. He backed out in disgrace. He now says Republicans in the House were exhausted with his great projects. Nonsense, I knew many of them, and they were exhausted with his atrocious leadership. He is not a leader. He is a huckster. Today Mitt Romney has 72 Congressional endorsements. Newt has 11. Possibly the 11 have yet to meet him.

Now he has found his key for hustling conservative electorate. He is playing the liberal media card and saying he embodies conservative values. Like Bill with his credulous fans, Newt is hoping conservatives suffer amnesia. Possibly some do. Perhaps they cannot recall mere months ago when this insufferable whiz kid was lambasting the great Congressman Paul Ryan for “right-wing social engineering” — more evidence of Newt’s not-so-hidden longing for the approval of the liberal media.

After his Ryan moment Newt’s campaign was a death wagon, and it will be so again — hopefully before he gets the nomination. Conservatives should not climb onto his death wagon. He is a huckster, and I for one will not be rendered a contortionist trying to defend him. I did so in his earliest days and learned my lesson.

Well put. My natural instinct is to defend my allies, but please not Gingrich!


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9 responses to “Fool them twice”

  1. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    Why did Gingrich resign as Speaker if he was not guilty? It seems plausible that he was allowed to bow out without criminal charges to avoid a larger scandal which would have hurt the party.

    It’s likely that Pelosi doesn’t know exactly what the criminal charge is, but knows that it’s been held back by members of his own party as part of the original deal.

    Why would 88% of the Republican House have voted to oust him if there wasn’t real criminal activity? That never made any sense at the time.

    The political operative who phoned into Tom Sullivan a few days ago was from Texas. Didn’t Dick Armey, Newt’s right hand man, help boot him out?

  2. joshua Avatar

    It amazes me that the head-to-head polls haven’t gotten more attention, for all the attention the intra-party polls get. Paul is actually not far from Obama, and much better than Newt or Rick.

  3. Bram Avatar
    Bram

    So is she saying we have to nominate him in order to find out what’s in his file?

  4. […] sleep, so blogging about anything is a supreme pain in the ass. (Yeah, I just updated an earlier post about Gingrich, as if I can stop him and his police state […]

  5. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    Rumors of Newts dirty laundry have been swirling around the ‘net for days. I have heard that one of the hacker sites has the material and is waiting for the right time to disclose.

    Thus giving Ds plausible denyability.

  6. rhhardin Avatar

    You can’t fool all the people all the time, but if you can do it just once, it lasts for four years.

    – Roger Price (1950s)

  7. Brett Avatar
    Brett

    No Newts!

  8. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    M. Simon, thanks for the Sullivan broadcast. I was wrong about Jack being from Texas, but he sure sounds authentic wherever he’s from.