With Newt Gingrich\u2019s solid victory in South Carolina, one question is why Newt?\u00a0 When even many of his supporters will admit his weaknesses, why are voters choosing him over all the other, and seemingly more electable, Republican candidates?\u00a0 The reasons are many and not all of them are exclusive to Newt.\u00a0 More importantly, these reasons reinforce each other and when taken together they have allowed Newt to come to the forefront, and to even bounce back from the onslaught that followed. \u00a0So here are the six reasons that voters are choosing Newt in no particular order.<\/p>\n
Newt comes across as Newt<\/strong><\/p>\n Probably first and foremost is that Newt comes across as himself. Voters have the sense that Newt is not just giving them polls tested lines they want to hear, but is saying what he really believes. \u00a0Romney, on the other hand, comes across as a well-polished and experience candidate, but there is always the lingering question as whether candidate Romney will be the same as a President Romney?\u00a0 Voters don\u2019t have that question with Newt.<\/p>\n Newt is smart<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether it was with Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, or George W Bush or Sarah Palin, one of the standard criticisms from the Democratic play book is to label Republicans as dumb.\u00a0 Conservative voters know the charges to be false, but conservatives don\u2019t want to wait for the verdict of later historians, as was the case with Reagan, to be vindicated. \u00a0While Newt can be criticized on many fronts, being dumb is not one of them. Even his strong critics admit that he is smart.\u00a0\u00a0 By itself this is not that big of a deal, but in the overall context this is key, particularly when combined with the next point:<\/p>\n Newt effectively defends conservative principles.<\/strong><\/p>\n Conservatives are interested in a lot more than just winning the election and defeating Obama. They certainly want that; but they also want change. They want conservative change.\u00a0 Republican candidates that talk about conservative principles in a campaign are a dime a dozen.\u00a0\u00a0 Republican candidates that can defend conservative principles when attacked are rare.\u00a0 Republican candidates that continue to defend conservatism after being elected are almost non-existed, and those who do, are not in any position to effect real change.<\/p>\n One of the big complaints about George W Bush was that he spent more time trying to get along with Democrats then fighting for conservative change, or even defending\u00a0 his own policies.\u00a0 He effectively let Ted Kennedy write the No Child Left Behind law, and yet it still became one the consistent points on which Democrats attacked Bush.\u00a0 In his second term he was pretty much silent, leaving it to Democrats to characterize his presidency and thus Republicans.\u00a0 It is one thing to fight and lose, but conservatives are tired of losing because our side does not want to fight.\u00a0 Those voting for Newt not only believe that he can beat Obama; they believe that he will effectively fight for conservative principles as President.<\/p>\n Newt attacks Obama<\/strong><\/p>\n All the candidates have for the most part focused on attacking Obama.\u00a0 \u00a0Newt has been particularly effective at this.\u00a0 Until he started to respond to the negative attacks by Romney and Paul, Gingrich had run an unusually positive campaign.\u00a0\u00a0 Following the attacks, he responded, and his response cause a lot of concern among is supporters.\u00a0 But after a few days he backed off, at least with his comments that many saw as an attack on capitalism, as much Romney.\u00a0 The bottom line here is that those voting for Newt do not have any fear of Newt going up against Obama.<\/p>\n Newt is not the Republican leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n For the last decade, conservatives have been told that they have to wait.\u00a0 Now is not the right time to move the conservative agenda forward, or in many cases, to resist the Democratic agenda.\u00a0\u00a0 Now is not the right time for a conservative candidate.\u00a0 Over the last year, at each point where there was an opportunity to force some change, \u00a0rather than to use our leverage the Republican leadership has said, next time will be when we make a stand.\u00a0 But after several \u201cnext times\u201d have come and past, conservatives realize that an entire year has gone by and they have nothing to show for it.<\/p>\n Right or wrong, Romney is seen as yet another moderate being pushed by the same establishment that gave us Dole, Bush, and McCain and makes up the Republican leadership.\u00a0 This is one of the reasons the attacks on Newt are taken with a grain of salt.\u00a0 The establishment has lost its credibility, thus their attacks on Newt ring hollow and in fact may actually be supporting him.<\/p>\n Newt does not accept the press attempt to trap Republicans <\/strong><\/p>\n One thing that has been clear is that Newt can handle the press.\u00a0 For example, in a recent debate each of the candidates muddled through a response to a loaded question on same-sex marriage.\u00a0 These were pretty typical of responses to load media questions that had driven conservative nuts for years.\u00a0 Then came Newt\u2019s turn to answer the question and he turned the question back on the Democrats to the cheers of the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of his critics see this ability as emotionally satisfying but inconsequential.\u00a0 While this might be true for those well informed, it ignores that most people get their knowledge of these candidates from the media.\u00a0 All too often there is reality, and there is what the press reports.\u00a0 Writing off Newt\u2019s ability to effectively deal with the press, is to ignore that this is the major battlefield of politics.<\/p>\n Many candidates claim some subset of these characteristics.\u00a0 For example, Santorum also comes across as himself, and is not part of the establishment.\u00a0 But only Newt can claim all of them.\u00a0 Even in those places where characteristics are shared among the candidates, Newt simply outsights the others.<\/p>\n Newt now has one other advantage that no other candidate in this race has demonstrated.\u00a0 Romney\u2019s support has remained fairly steady.\u00a0\u00a0 Other candidates have risen to challenges Romney, only to have their support evaporate.\u00a0 This also happened to Newt. But only Newt has shown an ability to bounce back and again return to the lead.<\/p>\n