On another thread, I posted a one liner about my missing Newt. It received a few comments, so I thought that I'd start a new thread. I generally like the guy, but recognise that he isn't perfect, and he is definitely an insider. The reason I like Newt wasn't because I agree with everything he does; rather, I like his ability to unite a party around common goals, and Nationalize Congressional elections. Tip O'Neil and others always believed that politics and elections were "local", meaning that constituents would vote for the representative securing the most money from public coffers for their home district, or State (earmarks if you please). Newt stood that belief on its head by his organizational skills, culminating with the Contract with America (which I still have a copy of, and agree with that vast majority of ideals).
Newt evolved over his political career, as we all do when we age and gain experience. He is a flawed man, and a politician. He lost the greatest political contest of wills in modern US History with the Government shutdown in '95. NOBODY else had the guts to do such a thing, and even though he was pummeled by the once dominant liberal press, he set the stage for modern political dissent, and a much more open press.
No, he isn't my idea of Jesus, but he is one heck of a talented organizer of a Party, he is the author of the real Republican Revolution. In my opinion, if we'd have been more mindful of the polluting intrusion of RINOs into that party during the late '90s until now, and blocked them in the primaries, I believe that we wouldn't have the fiscal trainwreck that we have now.
