barking_iguana | Compare and contratst: Newt, Big Dog, and Governor Moonbeam

Kos:

Newt Gingrich:
But Gingrich, who represented Georgia for 20 years, indicated that a push he is making for a grass-roots change in how the country is governed, with less partisanship, would take at least five years to develop into a coherent alternative to the current system.
Hilarious. Newt invented the harsh brand of partisanship that currently exists in our politics.

But he's just whispering sweet nothings to David Broder and Joe Klein, whose hearts just went pitter patter.

Jerry Brown, Bill Clinton, and Newt Gingrich are three of the most brilliant, talented, and flawed politicians I have seen.

Brown has an uncanny knack for seeing the underlying issues before others do. And then he comes down on both sides of them. Sometimes sequentially, sometimes simultaneously. He in incisive, but not coherent.

Clinton masters ideas and people. He can generalize and specify, keeping the whole picture in mind at all times. And he really wants to please and do good. But his wanting to do good overwhelms his ability to plan. He could never take a temporary loss, accomplinshing nothing tangible in the short run, in order to build political capital.

Gingrich is at least as smart as Clinton, but completely missing Bill's conscience. He is like Brown, but without the sense of purpose. To Gingrich, it's all a game, and he enjoys being good at it. He understands the limitatins of the paths he has chosen, and he'll address those limitations when he finds it fun and/or advantageous to do so.

So I'm not surprised to see Newt addressing the monster he has created. But I wouldn't expect any commitment from him to find ways to make it better. Esepcially not if it would require any sacrifice on his part.