That he is now the favoured candidate of socially conservative,
anti-Washington, pro-free-enterprise South Carolina Republicans is a
testament to his extraordinary rhetorical gifts, and to his talents as a
speaker and debater. There’s almost nobody in Washington I’d rather sit next
to at a dinner party – unless that dinner party is being held at the White
House.
• If nothing else, the Gingrich surge does prove that Americans – at least the
ones who vote in primaries – are still listening to political debates and
are susceptible to persuasion, provided the persuader deploys clever
rhetoric and witty repartee. Which has led many to wonder: when will the
current occupant of the White House begin to show some of his extraordinary
rhetorical gifts?
President Obama, after all, is very much a Washington outsider. Born in
Hawaii, he spent most of his career in Chicago. He hasn’t worked as a
lobbyist, hasn’t taken money from government-sponsored enterprises, and
hasn’t been investigated for ethics violations, as was Gingrich. He does not
chat or charm. He was brought up by a single mother, in very ordinary
circumstances. He is still married to his first wife. He does not have an
open marriage, as far as we know. And yet socially conservative,
anti-Washington, pro-free enterprise South Carolina Republicans don’t seem
to like him very much. There’s a lesson in there somewhere, if anyone in the
White House is able to learn it.
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