Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich says he won’t be participating in future debates unless the audience is allowed to chant, cheer, and/or boo. Anyone buying that? Didn’t think so. Considering his rise to the front of the pack can largely be attributed to his performance in debates… and the fact that he’s a bazillion dollars behind Mitt Romney in the fundraising department – in spite of where he may be sitting in the polls – I think it’s probably safe to say he won’t be skipping any events that offer him the opportunity for free air time with a national audience; but it sure is nice of Newt to look out for the little guy.
In an interview with the morning show “Fox and Friends,” Mr. Gingrich said NBC’s rules amounted to stifling free speech. In what has become a standard line of attack for his anti-establishment campaign, Mr. Gingrich blamed the media for trying to silence a dissenting point of view.
“I wish in retrospect I’d protested when Brian Williams took them out of it because I think it’s wrong,” Mr. Gingrich said. “And I think he took them out of it because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they’ve done in every debate.”
In fairness to Newt, the NBC debate was a bit of a snoozer. As much as I’ve come to loathe Ron Paul supporters for their interruptions, objections, and whatnot; I did find myself very much missing them in the silence that was Monday night’s debate. While I think Newt’s “threat” is just about as empty as his last plate of food, I do believe common sense and a not-so-subtle plea for ratings will force the networks to reconsider the whole “silent audience” thing going forward.
Dub, flub and flubdub: now responsible Republicans know how to negate Newt’s capacity to play to the mean spirit of a lynch mob.
When the cowardly inclined cannot get their hot air pumped into a blowtorch by jeering toadies, they are quickly looked upon as a loathsome inconsequential that is easily avoided. And the harsh voices of echoed support also fade away as rapidly as do the would-be sources that can no longer hide in a thinning throng.
Like Speaker Newt’s select henchmen in the House, with derisive dismissal they soon mumbled in total disinterest, “Newt who?”