(Pic courtesy of DonkeyHotey, via Flickr)
Bamf! Newt Gingrich has begun the totally expected implosion just like all the rest of the non-Mitt candidates of this cycle, and next up is the Mad Elf of the Republican Party, Ron Paul.
Public Policy Polling has Rep. Paul as the new leader in Iowa, at 23% of the voters surveyed, with Romney coming in second with 20% and the disgraced former Speaker back where he deserves at 14%. It seems that the fine GOP folks of Iowa are not ready to really support a three time married, one time House ethics sanctioned loud mouth as their choice for nominee.
Does this mean that Paul has a snowballs chance in hell of being the nominee? No. Just no. He has less chance than Herman Cain ever had. Rep. Paul has only one thing going for him in this current nominating race and that is that he is not Mitt Romney.
Ron Paul has a foreign policy that the Republican base and establishment loathes. Add to that the fact that he is all for ending the war on drugs and you have two strikes in a contest that up to now has been about who can be the most conservative.
Then we get to the optics. Ron Paul is old, really old, 78. He is very short as well, and, frankly, wears a suit that looks like it was designed by Soviet era Russian tailors for production in the Chinese markets.
None of that should matter, but it actually does and the combination of those things makes for the third strike that will kill off this boomlet he is riding.
One of the failings of the Mad Elf is that for all his whacky Libertarian ideas he is not really a Libertarian. How in the world could anyone talk about absolute freedoms from government intrusion but still be a forced pregnancy advocate.
For those who don’t know, Paul is virulently anti-choice. I don’t see how it is principled at all to say the government should not intrude on your freedom except in the most important and personal decision one could make, namely about reproduction.
One interesting thing that I did see in the PPP report is Paul wins the 24% of those surveyed who self identify as Democrats or Independents. He is winning that small slice with 35% support. But while that might help him in Iowa where you can sign up to be part of the caucus for any old party you want, it is not a formula that will help him in other Republican nominating contests.
So, today we are going to see a lot of stories like this one about how the GOP is still searching for their White Knight to be the nominee other than Mitt, but in the end ,to quote the Bard it will be
A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Mitt is going to be their nominee and he is going to be a gut shot one at that.
Just one other thought, on Newt. I am toying with the idea that he has sabotaged his campaign himself by shooting off his mouth about the judiciary and other ideas in recent days.
Look at this way; Newt never really wanted to be president. He wanted to pump some more life into Newt Inc. and there is hardly a better way of doing that then running in the early primary.
You get to be on the debate stage, which raises your name recognition, you get to make some really far right statements which get the Teahadist base thinking you’re a swell guy and you get to push you book.
When the wheel of Not-Mitt came around to stop on him it was great at first, but when it looked like he might actually have to act like a real campaign, well that is more work than it is worth for someone who knows that he would eventually lose the nomination.
So what is a smart money grubber to do? Why you flame out just like all the rest of the Not-Mitts before you.
The only reason that I’m not 100% certain about this is that Newt has an ego which is a naked-eye visible object from space, like from the Moon. He is the kind of guy that really believes he could be the new Reagan so maybe this is not all bond villainesque after all.
In any case be sure to stop by some Conservative websites today to watch the brouhaha as the Paulites do their victory lap. After all entertainment is where you find it.
The floor is yours.