Why Not Newt

[liveonearth]

Ed Stein cartoon, and commentary: Now that Herman (The Herminator) Cain has pulled out of the race, the newest not-Mitt Republican voters favor is the second coming (or is it the third, or fourth?) of Newt Gingrich, he of the plentiful baggage. In case you’ve forgotten–and we Americans have such short attention spans– Newt, while secretly having an affair with a staffer, led the impeachment against Bill Clinton for lying about his involvement with Monica Lewinsky. The thrice-married Newt now claims to have had a religious transformation and is no longer the same man who left his wife during her recovery from Cancer surgery. Gingrich forced a highly unpopular government shutdown, and was nearly deposed by his own party, which came to see him as a huge liability and the main cause of its midterm election defeat in 1998. He was reprimanded by the House of Representatives for a long laundry list of ethics violations, paying a $300,000 fine. Under pressure from party leaders, he resigned from Congress (and the Speakership) three days after being elected to his 11th term. While out of office, he has made a nice career providing insider access to folks who want clout on Capitol Hill, most famously as “historian” for Freddy Mac during the housing meltdown. This is the man who is now the current Republican front-runner for the highest office in the land. The lack of endorsements from those who know him best should be a signal to voters, but they’re not yet ready to embrace the inevitable but unlovable Romney. Meanwhile, poor, unwanted Mitt will have to wait patiently for Newt to implode, which will happen sooner or later, before finally claiming the nomination.