That’s true. But it is equally true that the House GOP revolted against Gingrich, and his “retirement” was due, in part, to the likelihood that they were going to replace him as Speaker.
And it is equally as plausible that Cobburn [and others] have as principled reasons for opposing him as Watts and Thompson do for supporting him.
Yes, they were going to replace him as Speaker. They were caving in to the media. He became radioactive simply because the Democrats and the media decided to smear him as a strategy, similarly as they did to Palin, or as Media Matters does to FOX News. If it was possible to file “ethics charges” against a president, they certainly would have done that to Bush.
It’s hard enough to get the country club Republicans now to understand that the media is their mortal enemy and not to be negotiated with or surrendered to. But most sure as heck didn’t understand it in the ‘90s. And even if they did, the alternative media (FOX/internet/talk radio) was just getting started, so Republicans figured they had no choice but to cave into the media rather than fight them unarmed.
You see Dole now claiming he lost in 1996 because the media and Democrats used Newt to smear the party in ads and so forth. Problem is he still blames the victim, Newt, and not the media or the Democrats. If Republicans constantly make sacrificial lambs out of their own in an effort to appease the media, they will lose. And it’s always the conservatives the media and Democrats target of course. What’s really going on in the GOP elites’ minds is that they believe a true conservative candidate will be attacked heavily by the media the way they always are, and they don’t want to fight for them if they can win easier with a RINO. So if we accept the GOP “old guard” strategy of appeasement then the party will continue becoming less conservative.
Today’s a very different environment with conservative media and the Tea Party grass roots activists. We are ready to fight the battle now and will certainly be motivated to do so if the candidate is as conservative as Newt.