Gunning for Newt...in the Republican Party?

If you happened to visit Drudge yesterday, you saw, through his website, that a bomb went off in Florida, as a coordinated attack on Newt Gingrich by the Republicans was unleashed: attack after attack, (one of which was proven untrue) attacks from a moderate presidential candidate that lost, (who may be an American hero, but they lost) and a backhanded attack from a former Congressman turned pundit.

I know this onslaught on Newt is false and I'm sure my readers do as well, therefore, I'm going to focus on the root cause of this Republican attack on its own.

Washington is an interesting place: people work so hard to get there, and once they arrive, it becomes their new home and even after their primary service has ended, they stay in Washington. Becoming a part of the Washington culture; whether over drinks at The Monocle, Hawk and Dove, or over golf at The Burning Tree, these folks are limited to their small Republican circles in the nearly 260 square miles inside the Capital Beltway. In these small circles, they begin to develop and endorse a false premise about acceptable Republican Party positions, how campaigns should be run, and will attempt to drag, kicking and screaming, the non-Washington voters to think and vote their way. With the rise of Obama and into 2010, we have seen a grass roots Conservative movement, in the form of the TEA Party, develop and produce Congressional majorities in the Midterms. Despite this influence, a battle between the DC GOP Establishment and the more Conservative TEA Party is brewing up for 2012.

Being a part of that Washington culture and enjoying the perks and benefits, the Establishment Republicans want to stay a part of that Washington culture; both in influence and power. Therefore, they believe having someone on the top of the ticket who is of a more Conservative bend will be a threat to both. If the Conservative candidate wins, members of the Establishment believe they'll get pushed out, as the Conservative will bring in his/her own circle and look to the new faces, rather than the old Establishment faces for advice and counsel. And due to their small social and professional circle and groupthink among these circles, these Establishment Republicans cannot accept Conservatism as valid, as they see it as too divisive. Therefore, it is their belief that having a Conservative at the top of the ticket will have a diliterious effect down the Republican ticket, causing elected officials to lose power because their brand of Republicanism was not articulated and endorsed.

We are already hearing the fears of the establishment that a vote for Newt will cost Republicans the majority in Congress. The false premise which I had explained is clearly playing out, the Establishment's narrative about Mitt Romney is failing, so with their backs against the wall, the onslaught of attacks on Newt Gingrich came out this week. It is my hope that voters in Florida ignore the ridiculous fear mongering of the Establishment Republicans and instead, apply the tenets of Conservatism to their vote.