COMMENTARY | The 2012 cycle to find the next GOP nominee for the presidency has resulted in a seemingly endless parade of front-running hopefuls backed by conservatives from the "Anybody but Mitt" Romney crowd. Now it looks like the next golden ticket is a candidate we thought had been dispensed, after irregularities in his charity's financial practices and a major shakeup in his campaign staff, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
But is Gingrich the real deal for Republicans? Or just another flavor of the week, hoping to unseat the party's "steady-as-she-goes" candidate, Romney?
According to the Huffington Post, people who served with Gingrich in Congress in 1994 think he can win the nomination, and so do I.
Gingrich is regarded by many, including Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., as a man "without a moral core," but that seems like a match made in heaven for a party whose morality doesn't sink in beyond the crust.
Having led at a national level, Gingrich, who has been in politics for most of his life, was regarded early in the race as a Washington establishment sort, representing the values of old Washington. But for many Republicans prone to nostalgia, that's not such a bad thing. In fact, life was pretty good for a number of years as a result of the deals forged between the president and Congress elected in 1994.
Democrats might regard Bill Clinton as the hero of that era, but Republicans will no doubt stand by their man Gingrich, who in the darkest days of budget negotiations, when the government had shut down, held the president in check and worked to negotiate a deal instead of political clout.
Gingrich is a different sort of candidate. He doesn't badmouth his fellow Republicans. He seems to rise above the fray, choosing to sell his ideas as valuable and acting as if his opponents aren't enemies but friends. The result is that instead of looking like a boxer, Gingrich comes off like a priest, as if he's not trying to beat anyone but just trying to help his country.
Some are settled and will never believe him, but at least for the moment, Gingrich is running the most market-friendly campaign in the race.
