Newt was interviewed by Davis Gregory on Meet the Press and self destructed.
In it Newt attacked the Ryan plan, supported a "version of the individual mandate and is forced to defend himself from accusations of "coded" racism which required one to don Gregory's racism to see.
I didn't realize these three issues were in a single interview.
On the Ryan bit Newt seemed to attack social engineering from the left and right based on whether they mandated individuals to make a predetermined decision. He seemed to argue that we need a plan that allows people to "voluntarily migrate to better solutions" and that the Ryan plan did not meet that need. Later, though, he contradicted himself and expressed support for a version of the individual mandate.
With Newt's attack on the Ryan plan I believe we see a failed attempt at triangulation.
We saw Newt fail in his attempt to position himself between the Ryan plan and the see-no-deficit democrats and in the process lose his establishment support. Then then we saw him loose his base and Tea Party support when he expressed support for the individual mandate.
Newt is headed into a primary election not a general election, so now is not the time for triangulation failed or otherwise. In this interview he lost his support in the primaries from his base, the establishment, and the Tea Party.
Newt burned himself.
I'm sad to see him go as I had looked forward to what Newt would have brought to the debates.
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