Union Leader Endorses Newt Gingrich

Cementing his status as real contender, today the Manchester Union Leader--New Hampshire's statewide conservative newspaper--endorsed Newt Gingrich for President of the United States. The editorial itself is a study in ahistorical narrative. It describes former Speaker Gingrich as a man not only capable of improving Washington, but a man who has already improved Washington. That is odd praise for a man many--on either side of the aisle--hold responsible for inaugurating (in the Union Leader's words, innovating) the hyper-polarized era of American politics, currently crippling our country. See, e.g., the Empty Chamber Speeches.  

No matter. Gingrich has climbed recently as the latest GOP not-Romney flavor of the month. He is polling, today, at 27% in Iowa, 7 points better than Romney--for those of you keeping score at home, Iowa polls are actually fairly useful for the Republican caucuses in contrast to the Democratic caucuses--and his performance during CNN's national security debate was policy-heavy and focused. He has, as this blog surmised way back when his campaign launched, become a legitimate candidate both for the Republican nomination and for the Presidency--one that stumbled early but did not implode. He could still easily go the way of Pawlenty, Bachmann, Cain, and Perry but with just six weeks to go before Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich appears to be peaking at the right time and managing to do so in two places at once. 

This Editor, at least, believes the Republican field has finally found its not-Romney--and, perhaps, its nominee.