Newt Gingrich: Ugly In Defeat

I know there's not a lot of blog traffic in knocking Newt, but I am a big believer in following the masthead on RS McCain's blog: "One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up."

Newt came in like a lion, and is going down like a bitch. Victor Davis Hanson:

Newt Gingrich’s post–Nevada caucus speech included about three minutes of inspired moments about issues and ideas in his usual imaginative and intellectually robust style. So why does he not just stay with that? Instead, he now turns ad nauseam to the tired reasons why he loses — yes, including lots of Mormons in Nevada — and ends up as Richard Nixon not going to get kicked around any more.

But whether he knows it or not, Gingrich is becoming a caricature of petulance: no concession in Nevada, no call to Romney, no awareness that his inability to raise money at levels of a political rival or to match a competing campaign organization is not necessarily unfair. That’s politics, and Gingrich knows it...

And lest you think the link to The Corner is indicative of my link to the establishment (although I think Mr. Hanson bona fides as a genuine intellectual are unimpeachable), here's Jonathan Tobin at Contentions:

...after watching Gingrich’s bizarre 11 pm presser, it would appear that the new positive Newt bears a strange resemblance to the old nasty Newt. Gingrich spent most of his session with the press venting his bitterness at Mitt Romney. While vowing to continue his presidential campaign, the main focus of his remarks was not his differences with President Obama but the anger he feels toward the GOP frontrunner.

As he did after losing in Florida, Gingrich again failed to congratulate Romney for winning in Nevada. But, if anything, his rage about being beaten in the pre-Florida primary debates has only grown. Calling Romney a liar, Gingrich piled on the abuse...

 And while I would never accused the tenacious Professor Jacobson of adopting a Gingrichian (hmmm..."patent pending" on that verbiage!) manner, I am surprised to see his ire raised by this:


The big story was the revelation in The NY Times that the Romney campaign, both directly and through Jewish emissaries, has been trying to convince Sheldon Adelson to cut off further funding of a pro-Newt SuperPAC...Romney apparently is deeply hurt by the negative ads the SuperPAC has been running with Adelson’s funding...You have got to be kidding me. It’s not enough for Romney to outspend Newt several times over, he has to try to cut off Newt’s funding?


With all due respect, this is, as Hanson says, politics. I have no doubt that donors like Sheldon Alderson are being wooed all the time by their candidate's competitors, explaining why his man can't win but their man can, while offering the opportunity to "invest" early with the winning team, and perhaps reap large dividends down the road.

Won't Obama be doing the same thing in the general? I'd rather have a guy who will fight on Obama's chosen turf and defeat him with his own weapons, than sport a candidate that will lose with respect, like Senator John McCain. But if all Gingrich can do is complain, it certainly conveys the impression that he's already run low on serious body-piercing ammunition.

I'm not saying Newt should step out, but he should step forward. Whining is not a winning strategy, and lately, it seems as if it is all Gingrich has left...