From just the personal unlike-ability and poor-character level, Newt Gingrich never had a chance to become President of the United States
What his failed campaign shows me is the pitfall of the excess egotism of entitlement. That is, he seemed to think that he could get the nomination and the presidency by taking short cuts – just be smart, interesting, provocative, creative, etc. Sarah Palin has the same entitlement/shortcut mentality – just be a captivating media personality and the country will give you the nomination and presidency.
The truth is obvious that running for president is a full time occupation which includes a lot of tedium and patience and persistence. I’m sure that endless fundraising and answering the same questions over and over are no fun. But, there are no shortcuts. It is an exhausting process that tests and reveals the character of the participants.
So, Gingrich is out. Ironically, one of his political mistakes was stating an obvious truth when he criticized the Paul Ryan budget plan as “right wing social engineering” which he opposed the same as he opposes left wing social engineering.
But, that is another matter that deals more with the delusions of the right wing faithful about the infallibility of their ideology.
The Republicans aren’t offering much in the way of opposition to Obama, which is a shame because I’m not real happy with the job the president is doing. One thing I am very confident about is that the country is not going to elect a right wing extremist. How a reasonable person gets nominated in the Republican party is a mystery to me.
