Politics: A Few Reasons To Miss Newt Gingrich

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Politics A Few Reasons To Miss Newt Gingrich He had some good ideas. No really, he did! By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012, at 11:56 PM ET One year and one month ago, the space shuttle Discovery completed its 39th and final mission. The moment it hit the ground, it was retired. Thirteen months into its obsolescence, NASA shelled out $11 million to strap it to a plane and fly it to the Smithsonian. Countless Washingtonians, plenty of whom had forgotten all about the shuttle, stood outside to gawk and film and Instagram the graceful final descent. Newt Gingrich was taking notes. Today he announced that he will "transition" his presidential campaign into a nonpresidential campaign. The final descent will occur on Tuesday, at a speech in Washington. "It'll be impressive," predicts his unofficial biographer Craig Shirley, author of two books about Ronald Reagan. "He's always been able to pull off a big, impressive speech." And it'll all happen a year after the city pronounced Gingrich politically dead. Gingrich has given us this time so that we might reflect on how he ran for president, and what it did to him. How can he recover from a presidential bid that won in two out of 43 states? In one of the early Newt pre-obituaries, the Atlantic's Molly Ball reflected on Gingrich's high-paying Fox News gig ("that bridge has been burned"), his old American Solutions and Center for Health Transformation think tanks ("defunct"), his campaign account ("nearly $4.5 million in debt"), and his torso ("noticeably fatter"). That empire won't be rebuilt, not the same way at least. But is Gingrich ... 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 Lithwick: Solicitor General Verrilli Botches Another Oral Argument The Most Embarrassing Moments From the Worst House of Representatives Ever What Happens When an Israeli Chef and a Palestinian Chef Share a Kitchen	Advertisement
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