Okay, everybody bring it in for a minute and take a knee. It’s not halftime. I’m calling this one on account of lack of funding and self-awareness. Last night, Newt Gingrich finished in last place with less than 6 percent of the vote in Wisconsin and didn’t get above 11 percent in either the D.C. or Maryland primaries.
Sheldon Adelson has stopped writing checks and Newt has cut back on half of his campaign staff. Ladies and gentlemen, it pains me to say this, but the 2012 presidential campaign of Newton Leroy Gingrich is over. I know a lot of us were hoping he’d go out in a blaze of glitter and glory at a brokered convention in Tampa, but it just doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Let’s not dwell on what could have been, but instead remember the good times that this campaign has given all of us this year. I really mean it when I say that this has been one of the most fascinating, weird and enjoyable campaigns to watch.
Make no mistake, I don’t think Newt Gingrich would make a good president. His statements range from the outrageously offensive (like when he said Barack Obama was the “food stamp president“) to the hilariously wacky (like saying EMP is the greatest strategic threat we face). That said, I can’t imagine this primary without him.
Without Newt Gingrich in the race (at least up until the rise of Santorum), this would have been one of the most boring political campaign seasons ever. No other candidate is louder, more boisterous and, dare I say, grandiose than Newt Gingrich. He’s made claims that he wants to put an American base on the moon by the end of his second term along with statements that child labor laws are, “truly stupid.” One can’t look at Newt Gingrich as a serious contender in this election anymore, but over the past year Gingrich’s campaign has gone from crisis to crisis making this campaign particularly compelling to watch.
A year ago Newt Gingrich’s entire campaign staff quit only for him to resurrect himself as the frontrunner a few months later. Then, after a barrage of negative advertisements, Newt fell yet again only to have a second (or third, or forth) coming and win both South Carolina and his home state of Georgia. He is a man who was living in the political wilderness for over a decade and returned only to find that those on the left and on the right still loathe him after all these years.
For the last few months Gingrich’s campaign hasn’t been about winning the nomination, it’s been about destroying Romney. Anyone who’s been following this campaign has been on the edge of their seat just to see what he’d do next. Now, it seems, he won’t be going out on a suicide mission in a blaze of metaphorical glory, but will just sputter out now that his finances have dried up.
So here is a video, a tribute if you will, that shows why some of us will miss Newt Gingrich. It’s got his ideas, his outbursts and his stubborn refusals to quit the race long after it was decided nobody wanted him. When the books about the 2012 election are written, Newt Gingrich may be the most fascinating character in the story. I’ll miss you, Newt.
Chris Godburn