What’s this world coming to, when voters are allowed to decide for themselves instead of listening to pundits? A pundit is a pundit because he and/or she is smarter than everybody else, correct?
I’m certainly not, as if you didn’t know already. I figured Gingrich was finished last June, when his whole staff quit. I figured he was finished just four days ago, when his ex-wife said he was into key parties or whatever. I figured voters would be scared off by the constant accusations of racism. (Did you know calling Obama “the food-stamp president,” because more people are on food stamps today than 4 years ago, is racist? Did you know there are no white people on food stamps? You do now!) I figured Gingrich was too crabby, too know-it-all, too fat, too whatever. I figured there was no way he’d hang in there even this long.
Then he got a standing ovation for pushing back against John King’s questions during the debate, and none of John King’s pals who reported on it could even process what was going on. After all, they’re the gatekeepers. They’re the arbiters of truth. They’re the good guys. They’re supposed to be able to insert themselves into the process and set the agenda, and nobody’s supposed to question it. Gingrich questioned it in a big way, and he won big. Probably just a coincidence!
(The dirty trick with the fake e-mails saying he made his ex-wife get an abortion may have earned him a few sympathy votes too. Good idea, huh?)
Of course, the smart people know what’s really going on. Supergeniuses like MSNBC’s Martin Bashir:
Anybody who runs against Obama is a racist, therefore the Republicans are the Confederates. Why else would they hold a primary in South Carolina? (When has Martin Bashir ever gotten anything right, aside from managing to interview Michael Jackson without staring directly at his nose?)
Personally, I’m ambivalent about Gingrich. Part of me enjoys the way he rejects the premise when a debate moderator tries to reinforce that day’s prevailing narrative. Another part of me is just waiting for him to say something stupid and arrogant and self-defeating, because he just can’t help it. And no part of me is sure he can get the nomination or win the election. Of course, nobody else knows either, but at least I’m honest about it.
If I were advising the Democrats, I’d say they should stick with their current strategy of calling everybody racists every single day, because there’s no way that could possibly backfire. There’s no way the voters will show up on Nov. 6 and say, “You think I’m a racist? Fine, then, if you have that much contempt for me, I’ll vote how I like anyway.” It just can’t happen.
And if it does, that’ll just prove they really are racists. So even if you lose, Dems, you win. Yay!
As for the Romney camp, they seem to think Romney should win because he deserves it. Because it’s his turn. They don’t think Gingrich has put in the work. They think he’s too volatile and unorganized. Which may be true, but it’s also irrelevant if he gets more votes. In this case, lots and lots more votes. That’s kinda the way it works. I keep hearing how unpopular and unelectable Gingrich is, and yet here we are.
Come on, everybody. Admit you have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen next. It’s not so bad. I kind of like it, actually.