Was yesterday's 12 point win over Mitt Romney by Newt Gingrich a shift in the plates or just a barbaric South Carolina yawp in the wilderness of frustration that is the Republican primary season? The answer is that it's the latter that has a long echo, one that can and will be heard in Florida. Mitt Romney needs to get his act together, and put his mouth where all that money is.
The money will win out in the end, but it needs to be acutely directed by the candidates statements, and Newt Gingrich has Mitt Romney on the severe defensive. When Mr. Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney on trying to not really answer any questions with regard to his record or his time at Bain, Mr. Romney has no response, no counter. He'll release his tax returns on Tuesday putting the issue to rest of why he was reluctant to release them in the first place, but immediately they will be scrutinized essentially becoming a whole separate issue.
Mr. Gingrich explained that the message to be taken from his South Carolina win is that there is real pain that people are feeling economically and that there is a real anger with the national establishment. We'll give a touch of credit to Mr. Gingrich in as much as that he has been listening to the electorate and has realized their collective hardship in this economy, However, this real anger with the national establishment, as Mr. Gingrich puts it, is very much his anger with the news media and the Republican party establishment in New York and Washington.
The down side is that Mr. Gingrich's policies, if implemented, are not going to be beneficial for the people who he purports to have sympathy for. As Joe Scarborough put it during the round table, the politics of grievance that Mr. Gingrich practices is not going to be enough to win a general election. The divisive language that he's been spouting toward the President is going to turn off the general electorate. Mr. Gingrich invokes Saul Alinsky, the Chicago community organizer, recognized as the originator of modern community organizing (sourced from the Wikipedia entry). Mr. Gingrich fully well knows that when he throws out a reference like that where most of the people he's talking to don't know who that is, but the name sounds 'foreign,' he provoking a kind of xenophobia that doesn't really exist. It's a variation of the birther code type of attacks on the President. The Keystone Pipeline and Saul Alinsky have nothing to do with one another, but Mr. Gingrich will tie the two together to instill the hint of fear.
Every time Mr. Gingrich is asked a question that he doesn't like, he turns the tables saying that he's appalled at the news media. Case in point today was when Mr. Gregory asked him about Mr. Gingrich positioning himself as an outsider when he was a 'strategic adviser' for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, what some would perceive as a lobbyist. With the exception of not registering as a lobbyist, that's exactly what he did for the mortgage giant. Governor Chris Christie even called that the oldest dodge in the book. Mr. Scarborough repeated said during the program that Mr. Gingrich isn't even a conservative.
Today's panel seemed to believe that the Republican party was on it's way to a brokered convention or the rise of a third party candidate. With that in mind, Chuck Todd said that yesterday's result was not about Mr. Gingrich, but really about Mitt Romney, or more accurately what Mr. Romney needs to be to win. The fact of the matter is that none of these candidates have what it takes to win the general election. And Governor Christie, during his interview today, did not help Mr. Romney's cause.
Mr. Christie said that the people going to work at Sports Authority and Staples have Mr. Romney to thank for that. Well, guess what? The people going to work at the Sports Authority are the same people going to work at Staples. Individuals who work there need both jobs to pay their bills, put food on the table, and maybe, possibly send their kids to college. These are the middle class jobs that America aspires to as described by Mr. Christie? We don't think so.
The Republican party is one that is truly fractured and in particular a Newt Gingrich nomination is not going to heal it. He said today that the establishment made a mess of things and should be shaken up. It's obviously clear that Mr. Scarborough and Mr. Murphy ("couldn't win a swing state if it were made of feathers") are not siding with him and that's just the tip of the establishment. The morning show host went on to say that beside not being a conservative, Mr. Gingrich is an opportunist we ran out of the Speakership, also noting that he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations, the report for which should absolutely be released - what were those violations?
Despite Ron Paul saying in his post-South Carolina primary speech that winning delegates is the name of the game and it's a game he'll be in until the end, his followers may demand the break. Paul supporters already clearly know that the candidate is not given his due deference during the debates. Ordinary Republicans are really sure how to react to Mr. Paul's answers because they clearly do not fit in with Republican orthodoxy.
Newt Gingrich winning in South Carolina is good for only Newt Gingrich. The Republican establishment wants Mitt Romney, the electorate wants Newt Gingrich. Ultimately, the country will come to find that they want neither.
Rountable: Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough, the BBC's Katty Kay, Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, and NBC's Chuck Todd
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