Since then, conservatives have tended to see themselves as a beleaguered and unfashionable band, armed only with the power of ideas in their struggle against the posh and privileged liberal establishment. In high-school terms, it’s been the right-wing nerds taking on the lefty homecoming kings and queens–the think-tank geeks squaring off against the cool Kennedys and their Harvard crowd. In early 1995, when Gingrich was in his prime, it was Kennesaw State railing against Beverly Hills and Manhattan. But that was before Gingrich decided to try to charm the liberals, the worst sin in the conservative catechism. If Newt is eventually turned out of the leadership, it may have as much to do with the rank-and-file resentment over his social climbing as it does with his ethics or policy flip-flops. Right now Gingrich’s biggest backers are the moderates, including Bob Dole and his bank account. It’s the right-wingers who suspect he’s forever lost his nerve.
This winter, Gingrich engaged in a liberal suck-up campaign to burnish his reputation. He invited Alec Baldwin (who had called the speaker “evil”) to his office for a friendly get-together; he asked Jesse Jackson (who has compared Gingrich to a segregationist) to be his guest at the State of the Union; he phoned ultraliberal Rep. Maxine Waters (who has called him everything under the sun) on the day of his re-election as speaker–time he should have been spending lobbying Republicans, some of whom voted against him because they didn’t get enough attention.
In the way that Eskimos are purported to have 39 words for snow, the right has a code to describe conservatives who ingratiate themselves with liberals. In this ironic argot, former True Believers who turn moderate have “strange new respect” or have “grown in office.” During the suck-up months, Gingrich was discussed in just these terms in Washington. GOP staffers began betting on when fed-up Republicans would oust him.
Then, in an abrupt about-face, Gingrich went into red-meat mode. Flattering Alec Baldwin, he had sounded all simpery about the National Endowment for the Arts. But having decided to shore up his support in the conservative ‘hood, Gingrich said he wanted to ax the NEA. He also proposed eliminating the capital-gains tax and the inheritance tax. These are probably good ideas, but they have as much chance of being passed in the current climate as Newt does of running a four-minute mile. The only reason Gingrich would come out with such proposals is to prove to the dittoheads that he’s capable of taking positions that are obnoxious to the liberal elite.
But in the end, Republicans can’t hope to govern simply by reacting to liberals, pro or con. And they can’t seriously advance their cause if their leader keeps acting like the geek trying to kiss up to–or throw fruit at–the Great Liberal Homecoming King. Mr. Gingrich, you’re speaker of the House. You are the homecoming king.
