[Finny]

Excellent point. You're right -- Gingrich does command respect even among those (MSM!) who loathe him.

Thinking about your comment put me in mind of Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the things I love about Netanyahu is that it comes across loud and clear that Netanyahu doesn't give a particular damn one way or another if he's liked or not -- he knows that the "mother's milk" of what he does is having the respect of those he has to deal with: if they happen to like him, great, but if they don't, that's their problem. I hadn't realized it until your post -- that's the same quality I've seen coming out in Newt lately.

Godspeed Newt Gingrich.

[ConfidentConservative]

Great observation! Benjamin Netanyahu comes off as comfortable with himself and who he is. So does Newt Gingrich.

[PapaBear3625]

Thinking about your comment put me in mind of Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the things I love about Netanyahu is that it comes across loud and clear that Netanyahu doesn't give a particular damn one way or another if he's liked or not -- he knows that the "mother's milk" of what he does is having the respect of those he has to deal with: if they happen to like him, great, but if they don't, that's their problem. I hadn't realized it until your post -- that's the same quality I've seen coming out in Newt lately.

That's what's selling me on Newt. When asked by a gay activist about the gay vote, Newt said that gay voters who were concerned about the economy and national security should vote for him. When the guy persisted about what about gay voters who thought that gay marriage was the most important issue, Newt without hesitation said they should vote for Obama.

Newt's attitude, correctly, was "I'm not going to alienate my base in order to pander to your issue".