Wednesday, December 07, 2011
"High verbals," and the problem with Newt Gingrich
There are different sorts of intelligence, and Newt Gingrich's does not necessarily qualify him to be president.
3 Comments:
By 
darovas, at
Thu Dec 08, 12:18:00 AM:
Krugman nailed it when he called Gingrich "a stupid man's idea of what a smart person sounds like".
Maureen Dowd also demolished Gingrich: click here
By 
, at
Thu Dec 08, 09:23:00 AM:
Mitt and the Establishment have chosen to attack Newt personally rather than on issues. Mitt is now airing ads in Iowa to say that he's really religious, and that Newt isn't. Maureen Dowd and others are saying that Newt may be "smart" but not the right kind of "smart". This won't be effective.
Mitt's missing the opportunity to redefine his campaign. He thought he could get the nomination by appealing to the Establishment wing of the Republicans and that he'd get the Holy Rollers by default when the likes of Bachmann and Santorum faded. He doesn't want to know from the Tea Partiers. He wishes they'd just go away. In the general, he wants to wage a vague, soft campaign to win over Independents. So if he wins, it won't be with a mandate.
Mitt won't get Holy Roller support. It's not just because he's a Mormon. They don't trust him.
When Mitt gets to the general, Obama's going to hang Mitt with his flip-flop on abortion. This is always a tricky issue for Republican presidential candidates but more so for Mitt because he's been so visibly strident on both sides of it. Going "Pro Life" won't help him much with Holy Rollers, but it will cost him a lot of Yuppie Women's voters in places like suburban Philadelphia, especially so if our unfolding economic train wreck -- and Obama's responsibilty for compounding it -- isn't made the focus.
The only public figure in Mitt's league as a spreadsheet mentat capable of understanding the numbers is Paul Ryan. Why Mitt didn't steal Ryan's playbook and improve on it is beyond me.
That's why I've never liked Mitt as a candidate. It's not personal. He may the "best man" in the field. But he's a piss poor politician, and always has been.
Newt wouldn't be my first choice. I think he's actually a pompous horse's ass. But he's proven that he can be a good politician when he's on his meds.
So when should Sarah announce her endorsement of Newt? That'll swing a lot of Holy Rollers to Newt. Enough to seal the deal on Iowa and South Carolina and to put Newt close in New Hampshire. This could be over early.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Thu Dec 08, 07:16:00 PM:
To the link. Obama is perhaps the most extreme High-V, mediocre-M president in my lifetime. I think he is not fully numerate. (Estimate SATV 700, SATM 500 at most.) That Gingrich might be the same I hadn't considered, but sounds plausible.
Bush was higher analytical as well. Perhaps this is why Newt strikes me as some conservative version of an essential Democrat, wanting to interfere and tinker with things. High-M people like to tinker, but they know that fixing things is hard and tend to be more cautious. High-V's plunged stupidly in.
