I don’t know how much I’ve written about it, but those that attend the Philly Drinking Liberally chapter have heard me pontificating on why Newt Gingrich will be the Republicans’ 2008 presidential nominee. Now the Wall Street Journal agrees with me:
GINGRICH EMERGES as top conservative prospect for Republican 2008 field.
Ebbing fortunes of Santorum, Allen and Frist leave opening for architect of Republicans’ 1994 sweep. Gingrich faults Bush for “very disturbing” post-election news conference, saying earlier replacement of Rumsfeld might have saved control of the Senate and 10 House seats.
“He can win some primaries,” says Bush ad-maker Mark McKinnon, now with 2008 front-runner McCain. Anti-Washington mood helps departing Arkansas Gov. Huckabee compete with Kansas Sen. Brownback in wooing religious right.
Now, you might say, “But, BooMan, didn’t he break-up with his wife while she was suffering from cancer? Didn’t he leave his next wife for one of his assistants? Didn’t he have ethical problems and get rebuked by the House Ethics panel?” Yeah, he did all that. And it doesn’t matter because he is a Republican. He just has to lean on Jesus a little and change the subject. I can’t imagine another Republican even bringing that stuff up a primary.
Newt is going to be in a showdown with McCain and Hagel. I could be wrong, but I think McCain and Hagel appeal to the same types of Republicans. They also appeal to independents. If they split those votes, Newt could wind up winning the nomination. And in any Newt/Hillary showdown, someone would have to win. My money would be on Hillary.
That’s not a choice that I want to make. America can do a lot better than that.
