Oh, please..... OF COURSE I’m not blaming him for the question that was asked. That’s out of his control.
MSM reporters do this kind of stuff all the time. The question is how to respond to it without accepting the MSM “framing”....
If you’ve read the thread then you know that lots of FReepers share my view of this, so whatever one can say about the Gingrich reply it is very very far from “obvious” that he deflated or rejected the meme.
You think that merely attempting to re-name it to his own political advantage somehow changes everything.
What I and many others have stated on this thread is our belief that Newt (who I like and admire, overall) accepted the “Swiftboating” reference rather than knocking it down.
If you want an example of how well he can do the latter when he is so moved, there is a great video someone linked up-thread showing how well he chastised some MSM reporter in 2008 about a stupid question. He can do it better than anyone when he wants to. I think that’s what was needed in this case but he found it more convenient to whine about “Romney-boating” which just makes him look weak and whiny, imho.
The media will never let a Republican candidate benefit from that kind of complaint — just look at how badly Bob Dole fared in ‘96 when he was saying that Clinton should “stop lying about my record.” He was right, of course, but the media just made him (Dole) look whiny.
Like I said I am amazed at how many FReepers are so gullible.