Newt reminds me of those actors from the 1930's who, as late the late-1960's, continued to grab the spotlight in an attempt either to relive their glory days, or to make younger actors aware they are young and neither as important nor powerful as they believe. Yet, in so doing, they become objects of humor, even derision. They manage to make a mockery of themselves, belittle their previous accomplishments. We all remember Spencer Tracy as the father in Who's Coming To Dinner, but what about his turn in his last picture, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World? Clarke Gable went out with a whimper, fading along with Marilyn Monroe (whose suicide may have been hastened by Gable's obstinate refusal to sleep with her), in The Misfits.
So we have Gingrich, yesterday, stealing headlines with his "party of foodstamps" nonsense. Does Gingrich not understand that it isn't 1980? Does he not get that, in the middle of a recession, there are millions more on public assistance than there might otherwise be? Does he not understand that the easiest, quickest retort is that the Republicans are "the party of the millionaires", particularly in a time of economic devastation?
The surest, simplest way to make short work of this is to own it. Apparently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi managed to do that very thing today, pointing out the beneficial multiplier effect from food stamps. CNN reporter John King did the entire universe a service when, in commenting on the alleged relevance of both the phrase and the larger story it has produced, he let the world know that he was the product of a home that needed, and used, food stamps.
Finally, Gingrich, touted for far too long as "an intellectual", made himself look not just ignorant, but silly, by insisting that the multiplier to which Pelosi pointed was nothing more than "liberal math". While I know that this will not silence him, at this point, it might be a good thing for the country that he receives unwarranted attention. My guess is Republican heads were shaking across the land as the story first broke yesterday. In all likelihood, there was probably a furious exchange of cell phone calls and Blackberry IMs attempting to put the genie back in the bottle. This close to an election that just a month ago seemed certain to be a Republican cake-walk, but now increasingly seems a toss-up (in an off-year cycle near the bottom of a bad business cycle), it is a stunt like this that can do nothing but good for the Democrats.
So, sure, the Democratic Party is the Party of Food Stamps. Far better to be known as a party that is willing to help those in need than the party that is willing to bail out our largest financial institutions while turning a deaf ear to the needs of millions of citizens losing their jobs, their savings, their homes, and their sense of equanimity. I'll take the epithet, and wear it with pride and distinction.
So, Newt, thanks. Now, go back to schtupping your third wife (acquired while still married to number 2, and spending most of your public hours railing against the horrors of Bill Clinton receiving oral sex from a woman not his wife; the future No. 3 didn't, I'm guessing?) and leaving the election to those who are running.
