Posted on 06/10/2016 5:20:21 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Is Newt Gingrich distancing himself from Trump or promising to be the responsible party who will really run a Trump administration?
The following things were said about Donald Trump in recent days: “This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. I think it’s inexcusable;” “the kinds of mistakes that amateurs make;” and “an absurd amateur mistake.”
It is not at all unusual that someone said those things. They are pretty obvious responses to Trump’s attempt to turn his personal grudge against a judge, tinged with an element of prejudice against people of Mexican descent, into a campaign theme.
What’s unusual is who said them: Newt Gingrich, an early establishment endorser of Trump and potential vice-presidential candidate.
So how should we interpret these criticisms? Is Gingrich laying the groundwork for a de-endorsement and abandonment of Trump? Or more likely, is it a way to support Trump while trying to keep from being tarred by Trump’s behavior? (Good luck with that.)
Or there’s a more intriguing possibility: Gingrich is running for shadow president.
Consider how this sort of thing will be taken if Gingrich actually does get the vice-presidential nod or some other prominent position in the administration. The message is, “Sure, Trump is crazy and shoots off his mouth off and makes these absurdly amateur mistakes. But he’ll be surrounded by responsible adults like me who will walk everything back and tamp it down and keep it from becoming a problem.” From which we could draw the further inference, “So maybe you should just come to me first, bypass the flashy, loudmouthed figurehead, and go straight to the people who actually runs things.”
Gingrich is running to be what Democrats thought Dick Cheney was for George W. Bush. He is positioning himself, or someone like himself, as the power behind the throne.
I say “or someone like himself,” but let’s face it, Gingrich would almost certainly like it to be himself. Back in the 1990s, I read what was basically Gingrich’s campaign book — the kind of book you write when you’re running for president, except that Gingrich wrote it when he was about to become speaker of the House, and that tells you something. A recurring theme was that Gingrich is a big fan of historian Arnold Toynbee’s “challenge and response” theory. The idea is that in every era, some big central crisis to our civilization presents itself, requiring a great man and visionary leader to rise to the occasion and champion a creative response to that challenge. It was pretty clear that Gingrich saw himself as this visionary leader.
His vision has frequently changed whether it was futurism and free laptops, Contract with America, or a 51st state on the moon. The specific vision changes, but the thing that remains the same is his belief that eventually America will realize the man it needs to lead it out of an era of crisis is none other than Newt Gingrich.
He’s been hanging around, waiting for that moment for a long time. And now, just when it seems that it passed him by, he has his second chance — this time with Trump as the powerful personality who captures the public’s imagination, but with Gingrich as the real visionary behind the scenes.
Maybe this sounds too much like a conspiracy theory or something even more ridiculously implausible, like the plot line of a Shonda Rhimes television show.
Then again, isn’t this the central case offered to us for Trump by the establishment GOP types who have come over to his side? Trump’s original sales pitch was that he would be the loose cannon who would break things and disrupt the establishment and overturn the status quo. Now we’re being told: don’t worry, Trump will moderate. As Gingrich puts it, Trump has learned “in the last two days and has taken very significant steps away from that and moved toward a more controlled, more civil approach.” So the new sales pitch is that Trump will have sensible people around him, people like us, who will take all of this populist rhetoric and divert it into responsible channels.
In other words, the concept of an establishment shadow presidency with Trump as its figurehead is already central to the Republican Party leadership’s acceptance of him as their candidate. It’s certainly central to the personal ambitions of many of the people now attaching themselves to his campaign.
Maybe that’s how it will play out, or maybe it’s the establishment types who are fooling themselves and will find themselves double-crossed by Trump. If this really is a live-action Shonda Rhimes show, then we know things aren’t necessarily what they seem, and there’s going to be some kind of crazy twist, even if it doesn’t make very much sense.
And Gingrich running for shadow president makes about as much sense as anything else this election year.
Chief of Staff. Trump needs Newt’s skills and experience.
I will NOT settle for open borders advocates. Rub is is DONE as in cooked, burnt, finished. Martinez shot herself in the foot. NO to either one.
You nailed it.
There are some good ones who are loyal. Jeff Sessions. Duncan Hunter. AND Trump appreciates them.
Huckabee has also been VERY loyal to Trump!!!
Trump is a positive person. He has little patience with people shooting off negative vibes. Newt shot himself. He’s done.
Give HIM their unvarnished opinion. Not the media.
You gave the reasons why he should select Duncan Hunter.
Trump should never pick Newt.
Newt will stab him in the back at the first opportunity.
Washington has changed since Newt’s power days. For the Worst. New, fresh, veteran, and all-American Duncan Hunter is a perfect fit. And I’d bet you’d get his dad as part of the package.
I hear Huckabee once defending Trump and he was quite impressive. I was surprised how well he spoke.
Yes he has. I liked his showing up at Trump’s Vet Shindig.
nathanbedford I have always looked VERY forward to your posts on this site, but on this I disagree wholeheartedly the PC in this country has become unbearable!!! You can NO LONGER open your mouth about anything without being accused of racism, this is EXACTLY how the LIBS are taking over our nation!!! It has to stop there was NOTHING that Mr. Trump said that was racist, the judge IS biased plain and simple. If the Latina judge on our SUPREME court can make a statement very close to what Mr. Trump was referring to in his remark and NO ONE says a peep, NO NEWS, NO HEADLINES, NO Republicans running to the nearest microphone simply CRICKETS!!! I know how you feel about Mr. Trump but SOMEBODY NEEDS to break the back of DC corruption and WE believe he WILL!!!
Amen!
He was one of a kind, and certainly not anyone I would associate with the GOP.
Bubbles Roofio will cause a net loss of votes for Trump. Martinez is average to mediocre at best, one reason Trump rightfully called her out in Albuquerque. Walker has burned his bridges with Trump as well, jumping on the racist La Raza Judge asskisser bandwagon.
I don’t know.
Sessions voted for the Corker Bill.
I don’t really have any trust or faith in anyone in the senate, the most despicable body on the face of this earth.
No, they hate him because he’s a Conservative who doesn’t kiss their ass. The Bushes have no use for him, so that slur doesn’t hold water.
He is eligible. Case closed. You trolls need to get a new dead horse to beat.
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