Politics: Mute Gingrich

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics Mute Gingrich How Romney stole Gingrich's voice in Florida. By John Dickerson Posted Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012, at 02:04 AM ET Newt Gingrich is angry and that makes Mitt Romney sad. The former speaker is slipping badly in the polls in Florida and unloading on his way down. He's called Romney "deceitful," "maniacal," and "misleading." He's also rendered a historical verdict: Romney's campaign is the most dishonest he's ever seen. That cluster of deceit makes Romney unqualified to be president, says Gingrich. I asked Romney about these charges on his campaign bus Sunday night. "We look for qualities in a president. We don't look for whining and excuses," he said. "The wrong side of Newt Gingrich is being revealed, and it's actually quite sad and painful." Painful to Newt Gingrich. Romney spoke, his hands in his lap, in the practiced more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone of a principal speaking about a student he gladly expelled. An adviser explained what was really going on: "We are not going to let our boot off Gingrich's neck." It's working. Heading into Tuesday night's vote in Florida, Romney is ahead by double digits in a series of polls. (A Suffolk University poll has him up by 20 points.) Romney is up, and he's got Gingrich pinned down. It's not just that Romney's attacks are working. They are also robbing Gingrich of his voice. As a Gingrich ally explained, the sniping back and forth hurts Gingrich because it keeps him from offering the kind of positive message that helped him win in South Carolina. The wounded speaker ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why GOP Voters Are So Angry About Obama's Rejection of the Keystone Pipeline Is Polygamy Really Bad for Society? Yeah, It Kind of Is. How Can We Keep Corporations and Governments From Suppressing the Internet?	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036