He makes his party nervous.
Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are nervous about Newt Gingrich’s rise in the polls, with one member saying, “Newt’s hand is always six inches from the self-destruct button.”
The legislator, who served with Gingrich in the House, is one of many who are concerned the Georgia Republican will capture the 2012 presidential nomination. ...The Hill
But he's not making Mitt Romney's campaign nervous.
They’re preparing a robust, sustained attack that tags the former House speaker as a Washington insider and serial flip-flopper who can’t be trusted with the nation’s economy.
And they’re gearing up to have Romney bring the challenge directly — and proactively. ...Politico
Romney doesn't have a lot to worry about, if Washington Post polls are right.
On the voter level, there is no appetite for a Stop Romney campaign. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll confirms something you don’t hear much: Republicans and conservatives may not have settled on Mitt Romney as their nominee, but they really do like him. There is no ceiling. That suggests he still has an excellent chance to eventually expand his support well beyond his current numbers. ...WaPo
Already Newt's being challenged about his "facts."
On Wednesday, Gingrich told voters packed into Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, S.C., that he would sign legislation repealing health care and Wall Street overhauls when he takes office on Jan. 21, 2013.
"My intent will be to ask the new Congress to stay in session when they are sworn in on Jan. 3 and to pass -- and hold at the desk until I'm sworn in on the 21st -- to pass the repeal of Obamacare and the repeal of Dodd-Frank and the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley so that I can sign them on the 21st," Gingrich told the packed restaurant.
One problem: the Constitution that Gingrich constantly cites during his presidential campaign says the transition of power after an election takes place on Jan. 20. ...Boston.com
It's not just his knowledge of the Constitution that's under examination -- it's his concept of history as an archive from which he can choose events to back his arguments. Trouble is, he gets it all wrong too much of the time -- not just in the details but in the big stuff, as one historian points out.
...Here's what you need to know about Gingrich: He's not a real historian. Sure, he's got a Ph.D. in the field, and yes, Gingrich has written more than 20 books. But when he left academia for Congress in 1978, he also left behind the most basic canons of our discipline: rigor and humility. Put simply, we're supposed to know what we're talking about. And when we don't, we're supposed to say so. ...Jonathan Zimmerman, Chicago Tribune
"Rigor and humility" also seem to be absent from Newt's personal and professional life.
