Thursday, January 26, 2012

TWO-TRICK PONY

I only watched bits of tonight's debate, but Newt Gingrich didn't say anything particularly noteworthy while I was watching, and the general pundit consensus is that he didn't come close to having the big night he needed to have to stop the free-spending, sorta-surging Mitt Romney in Florida.

And, well, why should he have had a good night? People say he's had "a series of impressive debate performances," or words to that effect, but what he's had, mostly, is a series of debates in which he's baited a moderator -- Chris Wallace in August, John Harris in September, Maria Bartiromo in November, and, of course, John King earlier this month. There was also the nasty exchange with Juan Williams this month, which was a two-fer: Gingrich got to attack a representative of the media who was also a black person, on a question about race.

But if you don't have a non-white questioner asking Gingrich a question about race, and the questioners you do have don't say anything he finds particularly provocative, he's got no game -- he needs someone who gives him an excuse to go on the attack. It turns out he's not even as good at attacking Barack Obama in debates as Mitt Romney is. He's just not very impressive if there isn't someone he can look in the eye and verbally bludgeon. He certainly doesn't get the partisan crowd pumped. That's all he's got -- deprive him of it and he's not even good for laughs for the rest of us.

4 comments:

  1. Steve,
    Please.

    If you're trying to show people that an Emperor has no clothes, stick to Mitt.

    A nekked Newt is liable to increase the suicide rate rather dramatically.

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  2. I'll give you credit for watching them.

    I can’t watch the debates, even though they’re the greatest rolling comedy tour since Jeff Foxworthy with three of his comedian friends, Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy, decided to hit the road.

    Maybe we could call this series of debates, “The White Collar, White Men, Comedy Tour?” Maybe just “The White Collar Comedy Tour?”

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  3. More like "The White Choler Comedy Tour."

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  4. And poor humble Rick Sweatervest looks to be fading fast, despite having been (disputedly) anointed as Jesus' Repub by their chief witch-doctors and Druids. Even though the rest of the R field stinks just as badly, it's pleasant to see one of their anointments proven weightless.

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