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Friday, June 10, 2011

2012 Newt Gingrich Aides Blame Mass Defection on Gingrich's Wife

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Danny Schwartz

The Weekly Standard:

The problem was the wife. Aides to Newt Gingrich have resigned from his presidential campaign in protest of what they felt was a takeover by Callista Gingrich, the candidate’s wife since 2000.

The euphemism offered by departing staffers was they disagreed with Gingrich’s “strategy” for the campaign. Indeed, they did disagree. But it was a strategy — a part-time campaign, in effect — that Gingrich’s wife favored.

Listen: Blaming it on the wife is weak sauce. It implies that if Gingrich were to get divorced and remarried (again, to a less uppity woman this time) and run in 2016, he'd have a fighting chance at winning the Republican nomination. That's not true. Newt Gingrich is a bad candidate. He's arrogant, uncharismatic, too fond of the sound of his own voice, and he's got none of the poise or polish of a successful presidential candidate. That's why Newt Gingrich is publicly melting down. And that's why Newt Gingrich will never win the Republican nomination. Leave his wife out of this, you smarmy fucks. Of course she's a bad person—she married Newt Gingrich!—but this smacks of an oily attempt to save Newt's reputation by throwing his wife to the dogs of the media.

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The departing aides of Newt Gringrich are trying to save Newt Gingrich's reputation by blaming his wife, following their own mass exit? Why would the departing aides be trying to save his rep? Their own reps, perhaps, following a blown start to the campaign, but I don't think they are trying to save Newt Gingrich by GETTING THE HECK OUTTA THERE.

Posted by beansarelame on June 10, 2011 at 1:20 PM

Blaming his wife does nothing to save Newt's reputation. It makes him look like a classic example of that insidious 1950's sexist stereotype: the henpecked husband.

Posted by Clayton on June 10, 2011 at 1:27 PM

Sounds to me like the Newtster is shopping for some new arm candy

Posted by Merchant Seaman on June 10, 2011 at 1:48 PM

"He's arrogant, uncharismatic, too fond of the sound of his own voice, and he's got none of the poise or polish of a successful presidential candidate." - Exactly how I felt (feel) about Obama...

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on June 10, 2011 at 1:51 PM

Can't we blame them both? And not just the two of them, but the aides too, who picked Newt and then publicly embarrassed him when they didn't get their way.

I bet other campaigns are falling all over themselves to hire people who'd do that to you.

Posted by The Wretched Harmony on June 10, 2011 at 1:52 PM

He's a cad and she's a floozy. They're perfect for each other. Just wrong for our country. I think his staff finally figured that out.

Posted by Vince on June 10, 2011 at 2:01 PM

@4: but obama wasn't MORBIDLY OBESE.

Posted by Max Solomon on June 10, 2011 at 2:03 PM

@7
No.... But Bubba was!

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on June 10, 2011 at 2:31 PM

@ 2 - I came here to say the same thing. I mean, if you can't stand your ground with your wife, can you really run a country?

Posted by pinksoda on June 10, 2011 at 2:44 PM

If one woman had the power to force her husband's staff to quit (not to mention get her husband to side with her for each and every decision), she should run for office herself.

Posted by starsandgarters on June 10, 2011 at 4:05 PM