Bandwagon?

So, I'm on the Newt bandwagon?  Ryan, you cut me to the quick :)  Hey, somebody has to provide some analysis here besides alternately marveling and decrying that the GOP electorate hasn't realized that Mitt is the obvious best candidate.  I'm not sure why that puts me on the Newt bandwagon.

 

The implication of jumping on the bandwagon is that I'm not considering who I'm associating with, just substituting the crowd's assessment for my own.  Leave aside the fact that I've not declared support for Gingrich, or even opposition to Romney, I've been pretty consistent in pointing out Newt's drawbacks.  While I think his ascent is of a different character than Perry's or Cain's and has the potential to be much more durable, I have pointed out that he could implode as well.  I think my eyes are pretty wide open.

 

What amazes me is that you could write, "If the electorate can forget the mistakes of the past, then Romney has a serious problem. . . but the problem is there are so many mistakes to forget," with no sense of irony.  Do you really think that Romney has no mistakes which the electorate needs to forget in order to fully support him?  Do you really think he has fewer than Newt?  I had written in a previous post, "He [Gingrich] has as much as Romney to explain in his record.  However, he has more in his record to recommend him as well, so don't be surprised if he gets more benefit of the doubt."  I stillthink that's a better statement of the situation.  If either Romney or Gingrich gets the nomination, it will be because the electorate can forget, or at least put aside, mistakes of the past.  But I think there's a lot more forgetting required in Mitt's case, and there's a lot more good to remember in Newt's.

 

Right now, the biggest thing to recommend Mitt as the nominee over Newt is that Mitt is polling better against Obama.  Surely you recognize the fluidity of that as well?  I think a clear-headed assessment of each candidate's vulnerabilities in the general election is in order and their ability to respond.  Right now, I don't see a clear advantange in the vulnerability category.  I don't have much faith in Romney's ability to do timely messaging.  I think Gingrich has the edge there, but we'll get to see it in action to fully evaluate now that he's the (current) front runner.

 

--dmac