Re Bob Dole pronouncing Newt beyond the, er, pail, Yuval writes:
One could point to any number of erratic, undisciplined, and peculiar statements or actions by Newt Gingrich during his speakership. He was in many ways a disastrous manager and leader. Dole’s example [the symbolic ice-bucket] in his statement today reflects more poorly on Dole than on Gingrich, I’d say. And putting out this statement from Dole frankly doesn’t reflect well on the political judgment of the Romney campaign.
Indeed. When the rap on your campaign is that you’re the guy whose turn it is, the establishment candidate of no fixed beliefs whom the base doesn’t trust, a fellow waging an empty, passionless campaign and whom the media are already palpably longing to hail for the graceful dignity of your concession speech, what better way to kill that damning caricature than to trumpet your support from …Bob Dole.
As for Dole’s suggestion that Gingrich cost him the presidency, I take the former Speaker at his word when he says he won the Cold War and invented supply-side economics, but, with all due respect, giving him credit for the Dole ‘96 campaign is stretching even Newt’s towering world-historical significance a tad too far.