Now that Herman Cain has "suspended his campaign," the race is down to three people: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich. At this point, the question isn't so much whether Gingrich can beat Romney (he can), but whether Gingrich will beat Gingrich. This task is complicated by the fact that there isn't just one Gingrich. He's a very Walt Whitmanesque candidate -- he celebrates himself, he sings of himself, he is large, and he contains multitudes. And while both men are serial flip-floppers, the differentiating variable between them isn't consistency; it's conviction. Whereas Romney tries to reconcile his flip-flops with lawyerly logic, Newt has the ability to seemingly believe each of his contradictory positions with absolute conviction. And for better or worse -- usually worse -- the natural selection of our political process strongly favors that trait. ...God, imagine how fun the race will be if it's Gingrich vs. Obama. But, there's a danger here. Sometimes crazy nominees are good because it guarantees that the GOP loses. But sometimes, the crazy eeks out a victory anyway - especially if the economy starts tanking again and people start blaming Obama.
As we saw with the Tea Party takeover of the GOP House, sometimes crazy wins.
