This is from 2011. I actually met Newt Gingrich in 2000 when I was an intern at ABC News. The former Speaker has done and said many things since this post that would probably color how I would write it now. But these thoughts below are in the context of the 2012 GOP primaries. That was a at least two lifetimes ago. – CC, 2018
Did NPR Just Endorse New Gingrich?
It depends on how you feel about the ’90s. Brian Naylor’s Friday piece, entitled “To Imagine a Gingrich Presidency, Look to the ’90s” ends on the obligatory NPR dead-note (“It’s impossible to predict what kind of president Gingrich would make, but if his speakership is any guide, it seems safe to assume a Gingrich White House would be one of bold ideas and polarizing politics,”) but otherwise paints a picture of Speaker Newt as a shrewd, if closeted, bi-partisan compromiser due a big slice of the credit Bill Clinton often gets for making the 90s rock just that hard.
Even the title sounds like an endorsement. Weren’t the ’90s the last good American decade? The last American decade, period? Oh, sure, we were blissfully sewing the seeds of every problem we now face, only kind of trying to contain Al Queda, and doing a Wag the Dog war in Kosovo because Kosovars are white (even if they’re Muslim, right?) and Clinton had a sex scandal.
Whoa, wait a minute. That sounds really, really cynical. But maybe that explains the influx of visitors to this blog searching for information about Thomas L. Day’s recent Washington Post op-ed.
In any case, I will always love you, The ’90s. You had me at hello.
Lawrence Lessig has a different take on Gingrich. What do you think?
Chris Cocca 
Given your love of the 1980’s, I’m kind of surprised at your love of the 1990’s. Then again, Newt Gingrich was a much sexier foil to Clinton than Tip O’Neil was for Regan. Both had creative first names and all, were slightly overweight and had fascinatingly silvered hair. But Newt brought a level of moxie that made LBJ jealous. Come to think about it, a Fitz style “Compare/Contrast these two foils” could have been an interesting subject for our Congress/Presidency class.
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