some sense. it s not any traditional sort of charisma. it s that he thinks about this stuff all the time. he s articulate and he tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem. what s the deal there? are they good friends? there s skeptical journalist in me thinks what s bill clinton up to? he s on the other team. he s always worked three or four levels at once. obviously, it s good for the democrats if gingrich does well right now. he also is a trouble maker. doesn t mind making a little trouble for barack obama every so often if it doesn t harm him, which this really doesn t. also, what he says basically is true that gingrich does sometimes think of original future oriented ideas. the problem is that he is very much of a split personality politically. you never are sure whether it s the snarling attack dog
that they can t relate to. but i think jonathan is right. the bigger problem is the fact that they don t see him as one of their own in terms being conservative. and that is the big issue. he gets something like 57% of iowa caucusgoers see gingrich is conservative and only about 29% see romney as conservative. that s the big issue. and they re right about that. you look at romney s record in massachusetts. he described himself as a progressive. he is not really all that conservative. and probably would not be as conservative as gingrich as president. i think what they re really responding to in newt gingrich right now is that he is expressing their contempt for the liberal media. remember, he attacks the moderator. and for barack obama. they want a snarling attack dog. the same people who have those right wing truly nasty comments on your website, martin, and on