Declaring NASA would have a moon base by the end of his second term, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich last week made space exploration part of his campaign.
But not everyone is impressed with Gingrich’s bold plans for the year 2020. On this weekend’s broadcast of “Inside Washington,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer said the moon base idea could be the beginning of the end for the Gingrich campaign.
“I think the moon base was Newt jumping the shark, or to use another analogy, it could have been his Dukakis in the tank moment, because it was a caricature of him,” Krauthammer said. “And Romney used it cleverly to say that Newt was going out around every state promising x, y, and z. And of course, on the space coast in Florida, he would appeal to them.”
Krauthammer went on to say that the must win debate for Gingrich in Jacksonville, Fla. Thursday, critical for his momentum going into the Florida primary next Tuesday, was instead a victory for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“I think the momentum has shifted, and what was remarkable is that was with an audience there, you would have thought it would have been the Gingrich moment, though he had them in South Carolina and it was Romney,” Krauthammer continued. “Now it could have been the advance team that had the hall. It was obviously a Romney crowd from the beginning. But, whatever it was it worked and Romney won that debate decisively.”