But he's wrong about this, and I hope he sees his mistake before too long. Is Gingrich a Progressive? Yes. Is Romney? Yes. Is Obama? Yes.
But they are not all equally wedded to Progressivism.
In my opinion, Beck's failure to differentiate between people who sometimes espouse Progressive ideas (Gingrich), those who do it frequently (Romney), and those who wish to impose it imperiously as doctrine (Obama) is causing him to ignore the reality of electoral politics.
I understand that he admires and wishes to promote Michele Bachmann (she is a frequent guest on his radio program). There is a great deal to admire about her - she is a consistent conservative and a powerful voice for the sanctity of Life and for limited government.
But (and I am editorializing completely here, so please make your own judgment) I think Michele has proven to be a poor candidate, evidenced by her inability to achieve more than 3% in most polls. She is also absolutely detested by a huge number of women, particularly in the Northeast (granted - it's Liberalland) but my impression is that the level of hatred for her is even higher than that reserved for Sarah Palin, and that's saying a lot.
Can Bachmann gain traction? Doubtful. Time is short and her negatives are too high. How about Rick Santorum? Beck also likes him - and personally, I absolutely love the guy. People may be willing to give him a look, at last, but time and money is short.
My sense is that Gingrich will fade over then next couple of weeks while Romney stays stuck at his current levels of support, and that a new challenger will emerge (the next "Not Romney"), perhaps from Rick Perry, who has seemed to find his voice lately, and GOP primary voters may be willing to give him a second look.
Which leads me back to Glenn Beck. I understand his passion, which comes largely from a sense that profound and even apocalyptic economic and social disruptions are coming to America, and soon. But the fact is that most of us are not sitting around waiting for Armageddon and we are not looking for perfection in a candidate.
We need to beat Obama because our future as a nation depends upon it. That means supporting the best, electable candidate who is reliably conservative on as many issues as possible. It also means not attacking our own side too harshly out of emotional frustration, but in reserving our fire for Obama and his radical Democrats - they deserve it. I hope Glenn comes to this conclusion and decides to tone it down, at least by removing the emotionalism from his critiques of Republicans. To do so is not an abandonment of principle - it is only a tactic in the service of a greater cause.
Thank you for perfectly articulating my current disagreement with Beck.