Does Anybody Whine Any Better Than Newt Gingrich?

Even The Dismal Political Economist Would Vote for Newt if He Were Running for Whiner-In-Chief

For some reason pundits that watched the Republican debates came away with the impression that Newt Gingrich had performed well in the debates.  What everyone else came away with was the Newt Gingrich was just a whiner.  It seems like in almost every debate he was complaining about the format, complaining about the lack of response time and complaining about how the moderators were trying to get Republicans to criticize other Republicans, (in other words, debate). 

Because perception becomes reality, the favorable press coverage is one of the factors that has pushed Mr. Gingrich into contention.  But being in contention, and being competitive in some polls does not a campaign make.  It takes organization, money and dedication to the details of running a national campaign.  Mr. Gingrich has none of these, in fact his entire staff quit early this year because of Mr. Gingrich’s inattentive nature.

So now that Mr. Gingrich is leading in one poll in Virginia, it turns out that he has failed to even get on the ballot.  The requirements were not excessive, 10,000 signatures on nominating petitions, including 400 from each Congressional District.  But Mr. Gingrich failed this simple test, apparently too busy making up things (like saying Federal employees are forbidden by law to say Merry Christmas).

And being the consummate whiner that he is, instead of acknowledging his mistake and moving on Mr. Gingrich, like all Conservatives who espouse the morality of personal responsibility, refuses to take the blame.

The Gingrich campaign responded that "only a failed system" would disqualify Gingrich and other candidates. It said Gingrich would pursue an aggressive write-in campaign in Virginia.

See, Gingrich is not to blame, it’s the system.  So the Gingrich campaign will attempt a write in campaign.  Of course, by the time of the Virginia election it won’t matter very much. 

All of this contrasts with Mr. Romney, who as the AP acknowledges has been running for President for five years, contrary to Mr. Romney's contention otherwise.

It also illustrates the advantage held by Romney. He's essentially been running for president for five years, and his team, smaller than in 2008 but larger than those of most of his 2012 opponents, has paid close attention to filing requirements in each state. He will appear on the Virginia ballot, along with Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who also has run a national campaign before.

Will Mr. Gingrich learn anything from this?  No, if Mr. Gingrich were capable of learning from his mistakes he wouldn’t be in the race, would he?  But not to worry, the media will continue to call Mr. Gingrich an intellectual, a man of ideas, a creative force in the Republican Party.  After all, if one ignores all of his idiotic ideas which the press does, that’s the conclusion one is left with.

Oh, and that write in campaign?  Apparently that is not allowed under Virginia rules.  An intelligent and experienced politician, one with a reputed intellect and one with "big ideas" would know that.  Which explains why Mr. Gingrich does not.