Calling on Gingrich

By Charles W. Dunn

All of the Republican Party's presidential candidates, save one, are on life support.

Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry rose and fell at the speed of light, Herman Cain got stuck in the muck of moral scandal, Mitt Romney stands frozen in the polls and Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul have not yet read the handwriting on the wall: "weighed in the balances and found wanting."

But, surprising everyone, Newt Gingrich is rising from the ashes of Republican despair, looking ever more like the party's savior.

On the debate stage, Gingrich looks like Snow White in the midst of Seven Dwarfs. He rises above the fray, addressing the great issues of the day that divide Republicans from Democrats.

Gingrich, unlike the Seven Dwarfs, speaks well of everyone and maintains excellent ties to all wings of the party. In a calm, reasoned manner, he seeks to unify the party, knowing what President Barack Obama knows: A divided Republican Party cannot expect to defeat a unified Democratic Party, which has both the resources of the White House and the odds of history on its side. Only twice has the incumbent party after one term in the White House lost in its bid for reelection, 1888 and 1980.

Gingrich's intellect also distinguishes him from the Seven Dwarfs. He consistently demonstrates greater breadth and depth of knowledge, albeit not in a condescending manner. He is clearly the superior intellect with the most edifying manner on the stage of debate.

Gingrich's ideas capture attention. He stunned everyone with his proposal to hold seven three-hour Lincoln-Douglas debates with Obama. Coming from Gingrich, who possesses excellent debating skills, the idea resonated. In 2008, many people said that if Gingrich had been the Republican nominee, he would have crushed Obama in debate. Today, even more so, they say the same.

Gingrich does not offer a platform based on hope and a prayer. He cites specific successes from his tenure as speaker of the House: welfare reform, balanced budgets and the Contract with America. None of the Seven Dwarfs offers anything remotely as successful.

Gingrich also offers what the nation needs - a unifying voice and record of bipartisan success. He worked closely with President Bill Clinton to achieve the successes of welfare reform and balanced budgets. Since his tenure as speaker, he also has reached out to Democrats, notably Hillary Rodham Clinton, to seek bipartisan agreement on issues.

Making bad news non-news some time ago, Gingrich's skeletons are out of the closet. There is nothing more to talk about. Moreover, his newfound religious faith, which he clearly and convincingly articulates both in spoken and written word, gives him credibility as a changed man.

Gingrich comes from the single most important region of the country - the South.

The South, with the largest regional bloc of Electoral College votes in the nation, has played a vital and often pivotal role in presidential races for many years. Twice, Richard Nixon penetrated the South and won. Jimmy Carter won with the South in 1976 but lost without it in 1980. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush won with the South.

And Democrats in 1992 and 1996 nominated two Southerners, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. George W. Bush won with the South in 2000 and 2004, but in 2008 Obama scored key wins in such states as North Carolina and Georgia.

Great presidents stand out as the purveyors of great ideas for the future of America. Such were George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Reagan.

Even some of America's losing candidates, such as Adlai E. Stevenson in 1952 and 1956, conducted educational campaigns, engaging in conversations with the electorate. Had Stevenson not run against Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five-star general who looked like everyone's favorite grandfather, he might well have won those races. As it was, his ideas inspired many and paved the way for John F. Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

Gingrich certainly does not stand in the lineage of America's greatest presidents, but he comes closer than the Seven Dwarfs. Right now he looks like the savior of the Republican Party.

Charles W. Dunn is an author and Regent University's distinguished professor of government. Email: cwdunn@regent.edu.