Sunday, January 29, 2012

Noonan: Gingrich As Heir To Reagan? Not Quite!

Peggy Noonan has written a wonderful column in this weekend's Wall Street Journal about the Romney/Gingrich matchup in Florida, all the talk about the legacy of Ronald Reagan and the future of the Republican Party.
Here are some excerpts.
One way Newt is unlike Reagan is that Reagan was a constructive figure, not destructive. If Newt is the donkey who knocked down the barn, Reagan's the guy who'd build it. He wasn't driven by need, and anger wasn't his fuel. He was equable, even-tempered, personally content. Martin Anderson always said Ronald Reagan didn't need high office to feel good, Ronald Reagan dated Lana Turner. He already thought he was quite a fella. . . .
Mr. Gingrich does not disdain Reagan and surely never did. He says he loves him and he probably does, in the way that people come to love what they need to love. They come up with reasons!
But the point is Newt senses the lay of the land. If a new and modern strain of Rockefeller Republicanism looked like it was about to take hold, he'd see the virtues in that. Right now the growth area looks like it's in opposition to elites and establishments. So that's where he is.
Click here to read the entire column.

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