Newt's Big Dud

Here we are waiting for the anouncement of the first so-called A list candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. We were waiting because the alleged candidate announced a specific calender at CPAC where he strode into the auditorium to the tune of "Ride the Tiger." The Washington Post dutifully did the candidate's bidding by salting its pages with analyses of his chances and his past effect on our politics. So if you are the conservative messiah, the man everyone has been waiting for, the answer to all the problems in America,then you should have an impressive roll-out complete with notable supporters. After all the first debate is in May, which is tomorrow.


CNN actually had a live crew in Georgia for the momentous occasion. The reporter however got drowned out by a nearby crowd squawking about something totally unrelated. The idea was that the candidate would establish his campaign headquarters in his home state away from the Washington Babylon, which has been his real home for decades. The candidate casually met with Governor Nathan Deal and the implication was that he would then announce before the press corps his candidacy, perhaps wax nostalgically about his days as a professor in Georgia and his first days as a congressmen. He was accompanied to Georgia by his wife who is his safety blanket and protection against accusations about his past affairs.

So I was ready as many were. The afternoon gradually slipped away. I first thought he wanted to get as close to the time of the nightly news so that he was the top story of the evening. After all that's what politicians are supposed to do.

He did finally appear. His profound announcement--this is his time to define the tenor and tone of the debate--was that he and his bride, Callista, would be creating a website! He wasn't creating an exploratory committee. He was not filing papers with the FEC. He was not cutting the ribbon to a headquarters. He was not doing much of anything.

Newt Gingrich, who has been doing his dance of the Seven Veils for the last 15 years,decided to keep the tease going. Clearly the Washington Post expected more. Last night they ran an article about what Newt had meant to the Republican Party, virtually declaring he had been the leader in absentia for the last two decades. The question they raised would Newt for all his brilliance and debating skills have the stamina for the long race to the White House. Remember he is one of Washington's political elite so it doesn't matter what his ideology is--he's part of the nobility.

Instead, we got an announcement that the response to the website would determine how Newt and Callista feel about running for your children and your grandchildren because of the difficult times ahead. Of course, the website had a stock photo of multi-racial Americans looking up adoringly at Newt and Callista, who has adopted the Cyndi McCain look. And to make your intentions clear, you should donate to Newt.

This little charade encapsulates the tragedy of the conservative movement. It has become so marketized that the first consideration about a presidential run has to be the personal cash. It has been documented by Politico that Newt raised more money for his Pac than any other Republican on the scene last year. And naturally about $13.8 million of it when to private planes and administrative overhead, which includes paying the man himself. Newt created a little empire of interlocking companies and non-profits to generate millions for himself but very little to the so-called movement which he claims to lead. His problem with declaring is that much of this will have to be folded up and made not accessible to any presidential campaign. After yesterday,I'm skeptical that he really will make the jump. Newt and Callista will have to make a cost-benefit analysis of such a run and any consequences if and when he fails.

Oh, by the way, Georgia apparently isn't the choice for sentimental reasons. It's because there are no restrictions on political money in Georgia. Haley Barbour set up shop there to raise skads of oil and gas money so he can purchase all the lists of Republicans in the primary states.

I remember the days when Bill Buckley would have to " loan" the National Review money to keep it alive. Now conservatives can't get into politics because they have to divest themselves of so many front groups and bogus fund-raising entities. The Horror! The Horror!