Newt Gingrich says he’s not running for President yet, but he sure sounds like he is:
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 ? Newt Gingrich is not running for president, at least not yet. He has set his sights much higher.
Mr. Gingrich?s mission, as he sees it, is to save American civilization from the gravest crisis it has confronted since the Civil War. He has also set as a goal what he calls the restoration of God to a central place in American government and culture.
If, as a result of these endeavors, the American people should choose Mr. Gingrich to be their leader, he suggests, so be it. But, for the time being, he says he is not actively seeking the presidency, though he often appears to be.
He may not be officially running, but he’s already got a new Contract with America:
Mr. Gingrich?s latest manifesto, a 10-point Contract With America for the 21st century, which includes Social Security privatization, electoral reform, radical streamlining of government, and ?patriotic education? for schoolchildren and immigrants. The document also includes a call to ?recenter America on the creator from whom all our liberties come? and to appoint judges who understand ?the centrality of God in American history.?
I generally like Newt Gingrich. As I’ve said before, he’s clearly the only potential Republican candidate for President who actually has ideas about the future. However, as someone who prefers to see religion and politics stay in their own respective camps, blatant political appeals to religious belief like this bother me extremely.
There’s still just a nagging worry. Anyone who proclaims their mission to be ’saving American civilization from a grave crisis’ may just be a little too ambitious for his own good.
My biggest worry about Gingrich is that his ego gives him confidence to be a bit authoritarian while thinking he’s smart enough to do it without unintended consequences. And that sort of person is often more dangerous than just the power-hungry.