Newt's not the only blast
Newt's not the only blast from the past
The Exorcism of Newt Gingrich
by Earl Dunovant © 1996
The Republican Revolution isn't going as the Republican National Committee expected. People loved all the anti-government ranting. . . never mind that it came from people whose greatest desire was to become a part of that government. It gave people a focus for their feeling that things are out of their control. It gave them a way to strike back at those who they felt didn't have their well-being in mind. It enabled them to scream "I'M the important one, not THOSE people!"
These folks were very aware that the Republicans fully intended to carry out all their promises. The mistake they made was in assuming the changes would affect someone else. They also mistook the promise to pass the "Contract with America" in the House of Representatives for a promise to make it law. . . a promise the Representatives were in no position to make anyway.
The Republicans underestimated the power of the office of the Presidency. They failed to realize that people would consider change for change's sake to be an improvement for the moment, but they ultimately want to feel better about their personal situation. . . and symbolic gestures of the sort offered (whack them welfare mothers!) are a temporary palliative when you've lost your union job and have to go back to school after 20 years to learn a job that pays two-thirds the salary you're accustomed to.
On top of that, the Republicans were unable to get folks to blame Clinton for the government shutdowns. That was intended to force Clinton's hand, but it backfired because:
* Too many people saw Clinton protecting their personal interests, and
* Too many people remembered Newt and the Freshmen promising a government shutdown over the budget MONTHS beforehand.
As the most prominent (read: biggest mouth) spokesman for the Republican Agenda, Newt Gingrich is identified with it in the public mind. (BTW, he replaces a comedian. . . does anyone remember the Freshmen Representatives hailing Rush Limbaugh as the party's primary spokesman? I found that odd, to say the least.) He's kept a lower profile because his penchant for saying really stupid things when off-guard made him a liability mere months into the "revolution". But he's too well known.
This past November, several Dems ran as "The Anti-Newt", with some success. A recent issue of The New Republic, commenting on the "unnecessary meltdown" of the Republican party, noted Republicans, "lacking adult leadership", are turning on Newt. And apparantly several folks running for re-election this year have rerquested the Speaker not campaign for them. Folks are talking about the Dems winning the House back this November. If this happens, the Republican Revolution is rhetorically dead. . . which means a sacrificial goat (no Republican leader is innocent enough to be called a lamb) will have to be served up as symbolic sacrifice. . . it may be a temporary palliative, but it will make folks think the Repubs are "cleaning house," "taking responsibility" and all that.
Newt looks to be the ideal candidate for ritual slaughter. He's provided more than enough rope to hang himself. And Al D'Amato (who is a hypocrite but a pragmatic one) has tossed the rope over the limb of the hangin' tree. He says Newt misread the message of the '94 election, that Newt was too extremist. Dole's reaction? He said the Speaker had a lot of ideas, and some of them are even good.
I would like to digress long enough to ask, what took Al so damn long to figure that out? If he just figured it out, that mean D'Amato, too, misread the public. As did Dole, who went along with Gingrich until his numbers at the polls started slipping. As did almost the entire House of Representatives and Senate including most Democrats. Doesn't say much for the cognitive abilities of our elected officials.
Anyway, by associating Newt with the most extreme ideas, then isolating him, it appears they are isolating the extreme ideas. In this case, it's more like letting go of the knife after plunging it into someone's chest. Because Newt was the point man, but the full force of the Republican party was the hand and arm wielding the blade.
The hostility, racism, elitism and greed this "revolution" has engendered will not go away because Newt is isolated, or even voted out of office, any more than an egg will un-fry when you shut off the range. Yet people will be satisfied with his retreat from a leadership position (if it happens), just as they will be satisfied with the inevitable neutralization of the Communications Decency Act. . . while the Internet will still belong to commercial interests as a result of all the other provisions passed in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
I hope you are not among those who are fooled. You can exorcise a demon, but the Devil is still active.
