Not really. But hear me out. People don't like Newt Gingrich because he's loud, obnoxious and grossly arrogant, which is the opposite of your typical politician (minus the arrogance). Do you prefer your politicians as smiley, predictable, well-groomed statues like Romney or Santorum? I like Gingrich's who-gives-a-fuck attitude. I also like the fact that he was/is hated in Washington. Why are people using that against him? His being hated by Washington is a good thing, which likely allowed him to avoid the useless McCain and Dole endorsements Gingrich capitalized on in South Carolina last month. Just before the primary he handily won, Gingrich asked a crowd, "why would you want to nominate the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?" A good line from the Speaker.
He's been ridiculed for grandiose ideas like building a colony on the moon by the end of his second term. What's wrong with that idea? I'm sure President Kennedy's call to land on the moon in 1961 seemed grandiose at the time. Big ideas are a good thing, and I see nothing wrong with aiming high, even as high as the moon, especially at a time when President Obama has ended our nation's space shuttle program and is planning to drastically cut NASA's budget next year.
And Gingrich has certainly made the debates entertaining -- as when he attacked CNN's John King when King asked that ridiculous question about Gingrich wanting an open marriage. Or, how about the time when Gingrich said that the only reason Romney is not a career politician is because he lost to Senator Ted Kennedy in 1994. Another great line from the Speaker.
While Mitt Romney strapped his dog Seamus to the roof of his car on a 12-hour trip in 1983, Gingrich loves animals and even has a website called "Pets with Newt 2012." But I see him loving animals the strange way Tony Soprano did -- he's mean and gruff to everyone, but would viciously kill anyone who would hurt an animal.
But do I like Newt? Of course not. He's loud, obnoxious and grossly arrogant. You probably shouldn't either.