Dr. Newt, M.D.

I wasn’t able to follow the details of the South Carolina primary due to other pressing issues, but I caught a bit of Romney’s and Paul’s speeches via Sirius radio (nerd alert!). I didn’t hear or see Newt’s speech, but I trust in the basic soundness of Pete and Peter’s accounts and analyses—but this means that my comments will be based on hearsay. With such a turn of events as Newt saying that the worst thing he did in this campaign was hire a professional campaign staff which tried to develop a disciplined message and a solid ground organization, hearsay is no better—and in some cases may be much better—than watching the actual speeches themselves. After all, if Newt is to be believed, the liberal media is nothing but distortion, and the war against that distortion (in the name of what? an ideal speech situation?) must be the paramount issue of the day, as well as the way to beat the president this fall. I like Peter’s analogy that it is like chemo, the media attack works first in the primaries, but fails the second time around in the general election.

It is amusing and instructive to think of Newt’s strategy in terms of medical pathology and its treatment. Maybe in their relationship with each other the alleged pro-Obama, liberal media are like an unknown and highly resistant form of bacteria infecting the mindset of Republicans and conservatives. From Newt’s (i.e., the physician’s) point of view, in the primaries this media infection can be initially controlled with a harsh first dosage of typical antibiotics. A straight up penicillin shot in the buttocks ought to do the trick, and therefore he must attack the media in a full frontal assault during the debates.

However, the more the antibiotic makes its war known against the bacteria, the more the bacteria adapt to and develop a resistance to the drug. It becomes a struggle for survival of bacteria and host in a symbiosis that is unsustainable. The patient is still alive, but he is still sick. At this point in the general election, Dr. Newt, M.D. prescribes a second more powerful dosage of antibiotics which must be the strongest drugs available. These drugs must be administered intravenously. Surely, he thinks, this course of medication will defeat the president. It will rally the same antibodies against a media that allegedly promotes Obama’s socialism as those which were successfully rallied against a media that allegedly promoted Romney’s capitalism. Unfortunately this drug turns out to be so powerful that not only does it kill the parasitic disease, it also kills the host itself. The Republicans and the media end up defeated, and Obama rolls to victory. In this light, the president will in fact exemplify health. Meanwhile, Dr. Newt moves on to the head of Radiology at Mass General.

The media may indeed be diseased, but the good doctor doth protest too much. Physician heal thyself.

I also heard a bit of Santorum’s speech praising the greatness of America in that it is such a wide open country that three primaries can result in three different winners, i.e., hoping against hope, Santorum said (in effect), “I, Rick Santorum, won the final vote count in Iowa. I’m a serious candidate. I beat Ron Paul in South Carolina.” As much as I admire him, and even as much as I think he has his flaws too, Rick is dreaming. Even this heroic strategy will not work.

The following electoral map of South Carolina is interesting. Around the urban areas of Columbia, Charleston and points near Savannah (GA), (i.e, the more “cosmopolitan” areas of SC in terms of SC—what with their wealth, their colleges and universities, their modern and post-modern amenities, their population exhibiting a more “educated” citizenry filling a greater number of government offices, their successful “movie set” historical charms, and their inevitable coastal port city diversity) Romney won. Gingrich got the rest of the state. Is this what is meant by “establishment” versus the rest of the vote? Was Gingrich speaking against this kind of a postmodern South Carolinian “nabobry” when he cynically deployed the 99% rhetoric against Romney? Was Newt really playing Willie Stark/Huey Long with holes in his socks?

If Newt wins Florida, then what?