January 28, 2012
IT IS THE GROWN-UP PARTY, AFTER ALL:
The GOP empire strikes back at Gingrich (Dan Balz, 1/28/12, Washington Post)
The revenge of the Republican establishment is a sight to behold. From one corner to another, those who have tangled with Newt Gingrich, who feel aggrieved toward Newt Gingrich or who fear Newt Gingrich have amassed to stop him. They know how much harder it will be to do so if the former House speaker wins Florida on Tuesday.The quintessential example of establishment angst came Thursday from Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and 1996 Republican presidential nominee. Hours before Thursday's GOP debate, he released a letter -- circulated by Mitt Romney's campaign -- attacking Gingrich and pleading with Republican voters not to make him the party's nominee. There is much rich history behind that letter.Dole is just one voice in a chorus of critics who have spoken out. Gingrich's victory in South Carolina just a week ago sent a shudder through the ranks of elected officials and others who make up the establishment and the conservative elite. Fear of Newt has displaced lack of love for Romney as the dominant emotion among these Republicans.
Newt's entertaining when he's in the peanut gallery, but you can't let him near center stage.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 28, 2012 4:42 PM
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