Friday, July 27, 2007

Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich -- together?

In one of the most interesting bits of political gossip swirling recently, there is evidence that Newt Gingrich may be positioning himself to back Fred Thompson.

Polarizing as Gingrich is, he is one of the smartest guys out there, with a command of policy and of how government works. For some of the Clinton years, he was essentially Prime Minister of the U.S., reminding some of the historically minded followers of politics of the days when Congressional leaders were far more powerful than Presidents.

Gingrich would make a tremendous addition to the Thompson team. He has to know that he himself has little chance of being elected President, even if he were to win the nomination -- so the next best thing is to be on the team of the one Republican who might be able to win.

Early polls are showing Guiliani running stronger against the leading Dems, but this is probably ephemeral, since the more the GOP gets to know Guiliani, the more his support slips. Without an enthusiastic base, no Republican can win in 2008.

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