Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Even Newt Gingrich is recognizing the danger of purging the Republican party of all but the most hardcore right-wing candidates running for office. In an interview with Politico, he says:
"If we get into a cycle where there are tea parties and there are conservative third-party candidates, we will make [Nancy] Pelosi speaker for life," Gingrich told POLITICO in an interview Thursday, calling the practice "totally destructive."
And:
But Gingrich, who broke with many fellow conservatives by getting behind the liberal Republican who was nominated but ultimately dropped out and backed the Democrat in a New York special congressional election, admitted that Dede Scozzafava was too far to the left to hold the GOP's center-right coalition together."That's a mistake," he said, referring to a candidacy such as Scozzafava's. "But it's equally clear that you can't be a right-wing party and govern the country."
He's right, of course. And it's especially interesting coming from Gingrich, who practically invented the form of political attack being used by the hard right these days on those moderates he is now defending. Gingrich wrote the book, quite literally, on how to demonize and dehumanize your opponents through the use of marginalizing language. He just wants it aimed solely at Democrats rather than fellow Republicans.
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To call Scozzafava a "liberal Republican" is laughable. What scares me about their cannibalistic infighting is fraudulent claims like this. My fear is that, in '12, Palin and other ultra-right wing nuts will run for the presidency, force the Republicans further to the right but ultimately fail, lead to the selection of what is really a very conservative Republican who will be portrayed by the media as a "moderate." Obama has a lot of flaws, but I think he is the best option we had at this point. I am truly concerned that the multitude of problems that face our country will be too much for the Obama administration opening up an opportunity for this "moderate" Republican to win the presidency and then go back to the same old failed policies of tax cuts and deregulation that got us into this mess in the first place.
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 20, 2009 9:32 AM
Wait, now he doesn't like the Tea Parties? Wasn't he on FoxNews promoting them 6 months ago?
Posted by: Odie | November 20, 2009 9:51 AM
Wait, now he doesn't like the Tea Parties? Wasn't he on FoxNews promoting them 6 months ago?
Repeated for good measure to emphasize Gingrich's routine hypocricy. He's perfectly happy to ride the right-wing-infantilism bandwagon as far as it will go; then, when the infantilism starts to backfire, he's equally happy to play the wise elder statesman, solemnly warning his party of the danger of the very "policies" he had supported, and will no doubt support again when he thinks he can get away with it.
Gingrich's wisdom and sensibility are as phony as his family values. This is still the "all Monica all the time" guy who caused the Government Shutdown 'cause he didn't get to go out the front door of Air Force One.
Posted by: Raging Bee | November 20, 2009 10:08 AM
So, if in the future, Teabagging turns out to be have been a nation-crumbling misstep, the GOP can majik away that they were behind it by pointing to one guy on the right who one time said so after he no longer had a horse in the ring.
I suppose that he's now against fear-based politics and blind obstructionism, too. What's next, him saying that he thinks the Southern Strategy was a bad idea?
It's easy to end up on the right side of history when you talk out of both sides of your mouth.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | November 20, 2009 11:05 AM
Well, he's honest in declaring his desire to win elections, no matter what. And he makes a whole lot of sense.
Posted by: Valhar2000 | November 20, 2009 11:36 AM
Ol' Newt got a little more revolution than he bargained for, didn't he?
Posted by: Scott Hanley | November 20, 2009 11:42 AM
Scott,
depends on whether Palin chooses him or Beck for the 2012 ticket:)
Posted by: MikeMa | November 20, 2009 11:50 AM
There was actually an article on OneNewsNow yesterday talking about how liberal Sen. Richard Lugar is. Yes, Dick Lugar is now a liberal socialist that hates America. The Republicans have completely lost touch.
Posted by: Iason Ouabache | November 20, 2009 1:22 PM
dogmeatib:
I can't remember if you're from Scozzafava's district or not. I was at the Oswego Dem's "victory party" (they only lost about 75% of the contested seats--an improvement) and every dem I talked to said that while they would, of course, prefer a democrat be elected, they had no animosity towards Dede. Bill Owens publicly thanked her for her support, instead of making snide remarks about her helping to doom the Conservative ticket. My former Alderman said that he has worked with Scozzafava for years and that she has always been willing to compromise. Just my .02 worth.
Oh, I almost forgot. Hoffman is a dick.
Posted by: democommie | November 20, 2009 3:26 PM
That may be the smartest thing - OK the least dumb thing - that Newt has ever said. Palin is a blowhard and while she is popular no one mistakes her for anything else. How ever does Newt acquire the thinking "tag" when he is so poorly read, ill-infored, and embraces every crackpot doctrine of economics.
Posted by: impal | November 20, 2009 3:41 PM
Nope, ancestors stomped about in that part of New York a couple hundred years ago, but my direct residency was midwestern prior to moving out west. ;o)
I was going purely by analysis of her voting record, support from a variety of conservative organizations, etc. I see her as a rational Republican, which may qualify her as a liberal Republican these days of rabid right wing RINO hunting, but that doesn't make my concern any less valid. They've reclassified liberals as communists, moderates as socialists, moderate conservatives as liberals, etc.
It's almost like a French Revolution of the right. Before too long they'll be executing Danton ... errr Gingrich for being a counter-revolutionary. ;o)
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 20, 2009 6:06 PM
democommie:
I'm from the 23rd, and I would agree with most other local dems that, in any other situation, I'd have happily voted for Scozzafava. By regional standards, she's decidedly liberal, but nationally speaking she's pretty moderate. Of course this is in a world where Obama is a "radical socialist liberal", so conservatives have a vested interest in shifting the Overton window.
Posted by: Kyorosuke | November 20, 2009 6:24 PM
These kinds of conundrums are bound to continue until we get it out of our heads that politics is a coin with only two sides or a line that runs only left and right.
I know a number of genuine classic conservtives with whom I have more in common than any number of so-called liberals, mainly because the division is issue driven and the issues are framed by a media that loves nothing more than perpetuating the illusion of an insolvable conflict in order to maximize their viewing audience and their bottom line ad revenues. Surely there is going to be differences and debate but as long as we mischaracterize our positions in order to fit the framework of political parties instead of how we genuinely percieve reality, we are going to be played for dupes by the over-paid grandstanding players from central casting that populate the modern mass media, in stark contrast to legitimate journalists who do the work, know their subject and are interested in discourse.
Posted by: doug l | November 20, 2009 7:21 PM
Poor Newt is suffering the fate shared by all inventors and innovators of weapons (be they physical or not).
Once your concept gets out there, you can't control who it gets pointed at anymore. Nor can you prevent others from fiddling with your formula.
Posted by: amphiox | November 20, 2009 7:33 PM