A massive article by Matt Bai appearing this Sunday in The New York Times Magazine appears rather ill-timed. Titled "Newt. Again," it portrays former Speaker Gingrich as the prime idea man and rallying point for the Republican party just as his ideas and party appear more out-of-it than ever in the aftermath of the Bobby Jindal (a Newt favorite) response to Obama’s big Tuesday speech.
Still, it somehow raises the hope or fear that Newt (he is mainly known by one name, like Che, the article proposes) will run for president in 2012, completing a "Nixonian" comeback.
The Times article reveals that Republicans claim that the conservative movement's "thunderbolts" are emerging from Gingrich’s office, not the oldline Heritage Foundation or Cato Institute: He is "at the zenith of influence in conservative Washington." Frank Luntz says he is the one guy he would consult on bringing the party back: "This guy would be the perfect ‘Behind the Music’ story, because he was on top, and then he lost it all, and now he’s back and bigger than ever.
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