Gingrich, Churchill, Ed Koch, and the presidency

Here are a couple of interesting articles on Newt Gingrich.

One is by Steve Hayward on Gingrich comparing him in some respects to Churchill. Not that Gingrich is a Churchill but he is a very bright, even brilliant man in some respects who's being dismissed as legitimate presidential candidate. Similarly, Churchill a brilliant man was dismissed as ever being Prime Minister of England during World War II. He was viewed as impulsive, rash and temperamentally not suitable to be the prime minister. Similar to what some are saying about Gingrich today. Yet as we enter uncharted times, some wonder whether Gingrich and his unique skills might be the man of the hour. Will that happen? Hayward said the next several months of the campaign season will sort that out. Will Newt't temperament prove unsuitable and he self destructs or will he keep gaining momentum.

Here's what Hayward says:

The next couple of months may well prove out the unplanned logic of our long campaign process. The debates, Newt’s strong suit so far, are about to give way to real voting, and to the week-by-week ground game that requires focus and consistency. Newt has a chance to prove conservative skeptics wrong about his constancy — the chance to win over skeptics in the face of so much evidence against him. The course of John Colville’s evolving assessment of Churchill in the 1940s is suggestive. Colville wrote in his diary the night Churchill became prime minister on May 10, 1940: “He may, of course, be the man of drive and energy the country believes him to be and he may be able to speed up our creaking military and industrial machinery; but it is a terrible risk, it involves the danger of rash and spectacular exploits, and I cannot help fearing that this country may be maneuvered into the most dangerous position it has ever been in.”

And there's this article by former Democrat mayor of New York City Ed Koch who's going to vote for President Obama next year. He says this about Newt.

Democrats who are supporters of President Obama and are hoping that he will face Newt Gingrich as the Republican candidate are mistaken in their belief that he will be easy to beat.

Gingrich is appealing to the anger in this country toward all politicians, particularly those in Congress. The country is looking for a leader, unafraid to tell the truth, and many think that Newt Gingrich is that person.

Is Newt a rising star or a shooting star? We'll see in the coming months.