It's Not About The Best Candidate

The other presidential candidates have finally paid attention to what is happening in the Republican presidential nomination race -- namely, that Newt Gingrich is starting to run away from the others in popularity with Republican voters. And the latest polls show he is even starting to chip away at Mitt Romney's support. Newt has a lot of skeletons in his closet, but it's beginning to look like the teabaggers have decided not to look in that closet and accept him as their candidate.

That's why I was a little surprised to see this article from the National Journal entitled "Insiders Not Sold On Gingrich". The Journal has gotten a couple of panels together to give their views on the election -- 102 Republican pundits and 110 Democratic pundits. They asked these panels who would be the best Republican candidate -- Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. And unsurprisingly, both panels overwhelmingly picked Mitt Romney -- the Republicans by 83% to 17% and the Democrats by 86% to 14%. Both panels said Romney would have a better chance against President Obama. Here is what some of the Republican pundits said:

"Winning the presidency is all about discipline, focus, and organization, none of which are strong suits for Gingrich."


"With Newt, we go to bed every night thinking that tomorrow might be the day he implodes. Not good for our confidence - or fundraising."


"Gingrich is not stable enough emotionally to be the nominee - let alone, the president."


"Bigfoot dressed as a circus clown would have a better chance of beating President Obama than Newt Gingrich, a similarly farcical character."


"Come on, the White House is probably giving money to Gingrich as we speak."


They are all right, of course. Poll after poll for many months now have shown that Mitt Romney would do better in the general election than any of the other candidates -- even Newt Gingrich (who is such an ethical & moral black hole that Democrats are practically salivating at the thought of being able to run against him). But what these pundits don't seem to understand is that the Republican nominating process is not about choosing the best candidate this time -- it is about finding a candidate acceptable to the teabaggers.

Republican pundits or establishment Republicans are not going to be the ones to choose the Republican nominee (if they were, Romney would be a shoo-in). And the money-men on Wall Street will not choose the nominee either (although they will be expected to fund the eventual nominee). The Republican Party is now under the control of its teabagger base, who can easily out-vote the other elements of the party. And it is the Republican base who will choose the nominee.

And whether Republican leaders like it or not, the teabagger base simply does not like Mitt Romney -- and they trust him even less than they like him. They view him as a liberal who has flip-flopped on the issues dear to them just to get the nomination, and as someone who will abandon those new teabagger views once he gets that nomination. They have considered and rejected a variety of candidates (Trump, Bachmann, Perry, Paul, Cain) in their search for their "anti-Romney candidate".

And now they are down to only one option -- Newt Gingrich (since Huntsman is a moderate and Santorum a non-entity). Gingrich may be a jerk with a ton of skeletons in his closet, but he has one advantage -- he's not Mitt Romney. And the fact that he's not Mitt Romney is the best thing he has going for him, and the only path to the nomination. And it now looks like the teabaggers are ready to put what little ethics and morality they have in the closet with Newt's skeletons, and give him their support.

There's still a chance that Newt could implode and the teabaggers grudgingly accept Romney. All of the other candidates are now directing their attacks at him. But I don't see any evidence yet that they will accept Romney. And the Democrats are keeping their fingers and toes crossed. Newt Gingrich as the Republican nominee would be the best present they could get.