Out-Newting Gingrich

Attempting to paint Newt Gingrich as an arrogant Washington insider during the December 10 debate, Mitt Romney ended up coming across as a smug elitist – and perhaps a distant second-place finisher before too long.

Determined to reverse the increasingly-potent stranglehold lead that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is putting on the GOP field, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came to Drake University to show his moxie as the best, most electable candidate to face President Obama in the general election next year.

Gingrich’s success has been simple. He has been the most articulate and most presidential on stage during the debate season thus far.  He has communicated conservative principles such as the goal of a balanced federal budget and governmental reform with a track record that backs up the rhetoric he delivers on the campaign trail. Even within his criticisms are the hints of moderate appeal on issues such as global warming and illegal immigration that have allowed Gingrich to move up the general election polls in a direct match-up with President Obama, thus stealing Romney’s thunder on the general election argument.

In essence, as I have noted before, Mitt has been out-Romney’ed by Newt Gingrich, a factor that has played a major role in shooting the former speaker to the top of the polls. Romney’s reply at the Drake debate? To out-Gingrich the GOP front-runner – with disastrous results.

Unlike Herman Cain (who could be counted on to misspeak on an issue if given enough time under political attack or simply on camera), Newt Gingrich is not the candidate to wilt and change his positions under media scrutiny or a debate challenge. He showed Mr. Romney that on Saturday evening as the former front-runner attempted on multiple occasions to tie up Mr. Gingrich with characterizations and presumptions that, in the end, Gingrich shrugged off like an All-American running back does the freshman defender that suits up for the JV.

After failing to prove Gingrich to be a candidate too arrogant, damaged, and detached to be relatable to GOP primary voters, the desperate Romney one-upped the former Speaker in a display of arrogance and detachment that no amount of damage control will likely fix – a gaffe that illustrates why the Obama re-election team would much rather see Mitt Romney as their opponent in the fall of 2012 than Mr. Gingrich.

I bet you $10,000 that the Romney team would love to have a do-over – either that or one of Will Smith’s special memory wands from Men In Black.

The arrogance that Mitt Romney displayed on Saturday night with his infamous proposed five-figure wager with Texas Governor Rick Perry is not necessarily what it will mean for the Romney campaign. That conclusion is already being cemented into place. Campaigning to lead a nation where unemployment and economic heartache remain at historic levels should dictate to candidates the need for a level of compassion and decorum towards the99% that could never envision proposing such a generous bet in such a grand fashion. Even those campaigning with “common man” populism while living privately as hypocrites to their campaign message tried to hide the paradox as long as possible.

Not Romney. For the White House, that trait is a very good one to have in a political opponent in 2012. For a struggling president that admits that it will take more than one president to fix the economic woes of the nation while, for years now, declaring repeatedly that it only took one president to get into this situation, Romney comes across as a gift-wrapped debate opponent next fall if he can only get through the GOP primary process.

That is the biggest take-away from the Romney’s betting blunder. Say what you want about a candidate arrogant enough to make bold historical statements about delicate geopolitical matters, only to stand by the remarks at risk of jeopardizing his newfound lead in the polls. That type of arrogance comes across as smart enough not to become debate fodder for an eloquent incumbent. However, Mr. Romney’s latest gaffe, coupled with a history of flip-flopping on key issues and a detached personal background from the mainstream of America just indicates how vulnerable a candidate Romney would be in the general election when facing the Obama election machine. Romney’s detached status and haughtiness has kept him steadily in the mid-20% in polling for months now, while Gingrich’s has led to him coming from near oblivion politically to a 20-point lead in key battleground states. Now we approach the beginning of the end of the GOP nomination process with the Iowa Caucuses January 3 with the year-long front-runner in a solid – and distant – second place.

At this point, after the nomination has been given to Gingrich in Tampa, a sad footnote in history will show how Newt Gingrich beat Mitt Romney at his own game, only to see Mr. Romney blunder away his chances by trying to beat Mr. Gingrich at his.

Lenny McAllister is a political commentator found every Saturday with host TJ Holmes and fellow pundit Maria Cardona on “CNN Saturday Morning” at 10:30 AM Eastern (9:30 Central / 7:30 AM Pacific.) This week’s “Saturday Remix” is availableexclusively on Politic365.

Lenny McAllister is the host of the radio show “Get Right with Lenny McAllister” found on LMGILIVE.com and often re-broadcast on Politic365. He appears weekly on “CNN Saturday Morning” with host Randi Kaye and former DNC Communications Director Maria Cardona at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. He also regularly appears weekdays on CNN's "Early Start" at 5am - 7am and "CNN Newsroom" at 12:30pm Eastern. He also appears as a political commentator on multiple outlets including Sirius-XM Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Radio in Australia, and Chicago Public Radio. Lenny has written previously for a number of publications including Rushmore Drive, Global Grind, and The Chicago Defender. In 2009, McAllister was a panelist at the 10th Annual State of the Black Union and the CNN panel discussion Young & Black In America: Empowering the Next Generation of African American Leaders. In 2010, Lenny was featured in the Studio 360 series “American Icons” in the episode, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He was also featured in the November 2010 Essence Magazine roundtable discussion “Race (Still) Matters” that featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Ben Jealous, and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.

More on Politic365

• Justice Department Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law, Gov. Brewer Responds
• “Republicrats”- Party Identification Challenging for Conservative Democrats
• CHANNEL365 - Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Repealing the Debt Committee