Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 27, 2009

Gingrich the Moderate

Since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich floated the idea of running for president over the weekend, the backlash from conservatives has been breathtaking. Combined with the reaction to his endorsement of the Republican in the NY-23 special election race over the  Conservative Party candidate, it's clear Gingrich -- once the firebrand of the right -- is now considered a moderate.

Michele Malkin: "The conservative base is wising up and pushing back. And constantly invoking Reagan isn't going to erase the damage Gingrich has done to his brand over the years by wavering on core issues and teaming up with some of the Left's biggest clowns."

Dan Riehl: "Unless someone got the nomination and picked Newt for VP, there's no way I see him as viable. I don't think he'd make it through a Republican Primary given some of his stances over the years."

David Keene: "The fact of the matter is -- and I happen to like Newt personally -- he's a Republican gladiator, not a conservative. He's done a lot of good for conservatives. His ideas tend to be conservative. But Newt's a Republican first."

Atlantic Wire: "The man who led the GOP to a 1994 revival is now dismissed being by some on the right as a RINO -- Republican In Name Only. "

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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