Gingrich as Godzilla, Romney as an alien disguised as a human

In an amusing column, “Can Newtzilla Be Stopped?”, Jonah Goldberg writes:

“People actually misunderstand what’s going on,” [Gingrich] explained Saturday night after his South Carolina win. “It’s not that I am a good debater. It is that I know how to articulate the deepest-felt values of the American people.”

That’s the great thing about Gingrich: He can make describing himself as the divine manifestation of the vox populi sound self-deprecating. Still, he’s basically right. He’s managed to transform into a spokesman for all of the rank and file’s frustrations, insecurities, and grievances as well as their hopes and ideals.

He never could have pulled it off were it not for Romney’s shortcomings. For whatever reason, Romney seems like a creature put on Earth to blend in with the humans and report back what he finds. He clearly likes earthlings, and they in turn find him pleasant enough, and surprisingly lifelike. Occasionally he finds the right words, but he rarely connects them to the right tone. This dearth of convincing passion in the front-runner makes the passionate base of the party want to look elsewhere—even to Newtzilla.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 25, 2012 08:46 AM | Send