Poor Little Newtie
by digby
Sam Stein reports that little Newtie is feeling all sorry for himself now that he’s tanking in Iowa after being barraged by 10 million dollars worth of negative ads:
At the Rotary Club, he waxed nostalgic about the old days, recalling — in a sanitized way — how he had run a “positive” campaign to taker over the House based on his “Contract with America.”
“It was a positive, issue-oriented campaign that fall,” he told the Rotarians. He said he had wanted to do the same in the presidential campaign but had been blindsided by how nasty and “cynical” the contest was. “We got off to a bad start,” he said. “I can’t do modern politics.” A tired Gingrich suddenly looked the part of the college professor he once was.
Right. He don’t know nothin’ bout all this negativity. He’s just an old country perfesser — a political Mr Chips, if you will — who got caught in the crossfire of modern political warfare.
Except, of course, he invented the weaponry used against him:
As you know, one of the key points in the GOPAC tapes is that “language matters.” In the video “We are a Majority,” Language is listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party, along with Agenda, Rules, Attitude and Learning. As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: “I wish I could speak like Newt.”
That takes years of practice. But, we believe that you could have a significant impact on your campaign and the way you communicate if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases.
All those years of practice paid off — for his opponents.
Update: He’s a very sensitive fellow:
The Villagers are all calling it a “Hillary moment.” But when she welled up in New Hampshire they all claimed it was a ruthlessly calculated “Madame DeFarge” moment. Newtie’s just showing his softer side.
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