I can't know for sure, but I'm guessing Newt Gingrich ruined a lot of GOP-ers Sunday morning. Gingrich knows his way around an interview and make no mistake, he did not mis speak.
Gingrich, on NBC's Meet The Press show, called the House Republican plan for Medicare, penned by Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, "right wing social engineering." This comment, unexpected by most, caused Ryan to comment today on a talk radio interview, "...with allies like that, who needs liberals?"
The former Speaker of the House wasn't done. Gingrich also said he felt the individual mandate is necessary in any health care reform plan. While he did walk that back a bit today by calling it "unconstitutional," the damage has been done. Which was his intent all along.
With a relatively weak field, Gingrich seems to have thumbed his nose at the entire Republican Party. It forced Ryan and several other GOP leaders to deal with questions about his comments, when they would've rather been focusing on leaning on the White House regarding raising the debt ceiling issue.
Why did he do what he did?
I think Newt senses that most of the independent voters aren't Tea Party types. They're fairly mainstream folks who dislike extreme partisanship, of any color. By claiming the middle on the Medicare debate, real or imagined, he now seems like the adult in the room. I'm sure there will be a poll out by the end of the week showing a slight bump in his approval rating. If there is a bump, look for Gingrich to throw unexpected bombs every few weeks to keep the other GOP candidates and the party in general off its game.
Gingrich has several issues to overcome to obtain the Republican nomination in 2012. His marital issues, his extreme partisanship in the 80's, his extreme partisanship recently where he spoke of Obama being from Kenya, and his lack of discipline overall. He's often thought of as the smartest guy in the room. He's currently thought of as a giant pain in the ass by many fellow Conservatives.
While Conservatives can't be happy with his comments, Democrats and even President Obama should be thankful. Who would've thought Mr. Gingrich would have sent out Christmas presents early to them? Trust me, his comments from Sunday morning are already in a production studio somewhere being turned into a commercial. Probably several commercials, which we'll see released over the next few weeks/months.
Game on, guys...
Sources:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576325350084379360.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/16/rep-ryan-fires-gingrich-medicare-plan-criticism/
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