Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made an appearance on Meet the Press with David Gregory the morning after winning the South Carolina primary and attempted to build upon the message that made him victorious in the nation’s first Southern primary. Speaker Gingrich said there were two “really big messages” he took away from his primary victory… 1) Real Pain – Unemployment and economic hardship are on the minds of 2012 voters and they intend to vote for the candidate they believe is best suited to address those concerns. 2) The level of anger at the national establishment – “People are sick and tired of being told what they are supposed to think; what they are supposed to say.”
For what it’s worth, the interview was really more or less a victory lap for Gingrich and the usually confrontational Gregory seemed to be willing to let Gingrich have his moment. Maybe he was merely trying to stay out of Gingrich’s way as it seems confrontations with the Former Speaker only help him make the case to potential voters that he is the right man to oppose Barack Obama and the mainstream media.
To his credit, Gregory was willing to challenge Gingrich on two fronts – 1) His “outsider” campaign and his compassion for the economic woes of Floridians – especially those impacted by the housing collapse – and the fact that he served as a “consultant” for one of the “mortgage giants.” 2) “Family values” and whether they should have a role in presidential politics. Essentially, Gregory was asking Gingrich whether it was still “fair game” to inquire about his past personal transgressions. The second video below is where you’ll find Newt’s response. For what it’s worth, he’s mastered the art of spinning a negative into a positive on this topic. My question; my concern; my worry is that folks like Gregory are setting him by throwing him softballs now, so they can pitch him high and tight should he claim the nomination…?
I thought the best line from Gingrich came when Gregory moved to the topic of electability. Responding to an article critiquing Gingrich as a loose cannon, the Former Speaker said;
“The establishment is right to be worried about a Gingrich nomination, because a Gingrich nomination means we’re going to change things. We’re going to make the establishment very uncomfortable. We’re going to demand real change in Washington, a real audit of the Federal Reserve, real knowledge about where hundreds of billions of dollars have gone, and I think if you look at some of these guys, they have really good reason to be worried about an honest open candidate who has no commitment to them.”
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