I’ve read a few comments by his constituents, and what you are saying is consistent with their statements.
Many folks do not know this, but Newt Gingrich was a mentor to Rick Santorum when he was first elected and arrived in the House of Representatives.
A few weeks ago Santorum claimed he was “the go to guy” for the coup against Gingrich, back in the 90s. What a shocking thing for a ‘moral’ person to claim, boasting of his own deceit!
A first criteria in any candidate for Republican President is that he/she be honest. That is why I reject Romney and Paul - they’re both liars. And now Santorum?!
I took such great offense of Santorum talking about his mentor that way, also:”running around taking credit for things the congress did, like a CEO trying to say he built the cars in a car company” - that’s very close to an exact quote (I have one of those memories). I have had many mentors in my life, still do, and next to my parents, I respect them greatly.
If you have time, all three links below, are worth your while.. for someone like me, who doesn’t know anything about 1994 or all those landmark years, I never could understand why people kept saying Newt was “erratic” and I was always looking for some explanations or clarity...
These links are quotes from Lindsey Graham, and really quite compelling... and make a whole section of the puzzle make sense to me... It has really changed a lot of minds of people I know, who really like Newt, but keep hearing all these words, phrases and garbage repeated. These are what I used to finally close the deal with them... I guess everybody takes different things to feel satisfied.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/lindsey-graham-gingrich-coup_n_1249641.html
excerpt:
What I’m saying about Newt, why did we lose confidence in him? Because he was changing the game plan. The last group to talk to him sort of won the day. But I can’t imagine his job. The first time Republicans had the congress in 40 years, trying to lead a revolution, taking people like me that came here to burn the place down and govern the country and deal with Bill Clinton — a good politician.
Looking back, I appreciate how hard his job was better than I did in 1997. And I’m here to say, as the guy who was in the coup, that looking back we were too hard on him and if he got to be the nominee I think he could win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6Ovf2NBk4 - the actual interview on GretaWire
Graham really hits Sanctimonium here:
“Being a backbencher throwing bombs because you’re not pure is a lot of fun, but governing the country is a lot harder,” he said.
The South Carolina Republican said he believes the country now needs someone like Gingrich to “embrace big ideas and take political risks”
“The one thing about Newt that is compelling is that I don’t think he looks at politics in terms of the next election cycle. He looks at politics as a generational issue,” said Graham.
Santorum said he was “the “go-to guy” when it came to getting things done during his time as U.S. senator from Pennsylvania” not in the coup to remove Gingrich. If you have a link to his saying that I would like to see it.