. . . is pretty darn weak. And there’s no way in heck he could be elected.
Nonetheless, we read in VOEGELI’s great book that he and Bill Clinton were on the cusp of entitlement reform we could have believed in when the Monica scandal broke.
So there would be something to be said for a NEWT and BILL national unity ticket—two “morally challenged” guys with big brains could finish the job of hammering out the reform we’re stuck with needing due to our demographic crisis, the seemingly uncontrollable costs of health care, and all that. Ryan could work with them, but they could add strong doses of realism to to his unmarketable (not to mention unbrandable) plan. (Does it creep anyone else out that Ryan recommends his staff read Rand?)
Let me remind you of my view that the implosion of our safety nets is hardly an unambiguously good thing or some kind of “new birth of freedom” that returns us to the vision of the Founders. It’s something to be managed astutely with a variety of conflicting goals in mind.
Newt by himself would be too much, but checked by Bill (ambition counteracting ambition) he might be put to work for us.
Ain’t gonna happen, it goes without saying.
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