"Churchillian" Gingrich

"You must admit, there's something Churchillian about Newt Gingrich. He may not be the most beloved politician on the national scene, but Newt always has his eye on the ball. Nobody does the issues better." That is how William Tucker began his article on The American Spectator website.

Tucker, who assisted Gingrich in the writing of To Renew America, continues:

This casts Newt in the role that Churchill played when he was an obstreperous backbencher warning about the Nazis in the 1930s -- or perhaps what Ronald Reagan did in the 1970s when he was hounding the Republican Party by running against incumbent Gerald Ford. Neither man enjoyed his present historical reputation at that point. Churchill was an aging wonder boy who had turned into a national annoyance. Reagan was still considered an overly ambitious actor trying to play the part of a politician. Only when history turned in their direction did both men emerge as the peerless leaders they eventually became.

After laying out Newt's version of a 2010 Contract with America, Tucker lists the five steps Gingrich has to promote the new Contract:

1) Concentrate on real issues that already have voter approval.

2) Present the document as a forward-looking alternative, not a backward-looking recrimination.

3) Stay positive and optimistic.

4) Keep the document a House of Representatives affair. Invite the Senate to join but don't negotiate. "The House is inherently a team institution while individual Senators have enormous power."

5) Give the deliberations plenty of publicity over the summer holidays but don't unveil the final document until after Labor Day, when people really start to focus on the campaign.

Summarizing, Tucker writes, "The Tea Party Movement is giving the Republicans enormous electoral impetus. But somebody's got to channel this energy down a useful path. I think Newt's got the right idea."