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The second coming of Newt Gingrich

BY ADAM REILLY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2004, NEW YORK -- Six years ago -- after he'd been reprimanded for ethics violations, presided over a failed Republican election effort, been outed as a chronic philanderer, and resigned in disgrace as Speaker of the House -- Newt Gingrich wouldn't have drawn a crowd if he'd stripped naked and done Tai Chi in the middle of Times Square. But we're in the midst of another Republican ascendancy, and Gingrich, now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of "alternate-history" novels, is enjoying a bit of reputation rehab.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gingrich held court in the Grand Old marketPlace, a politically themed bazaar where right-leaning authors like Gingrich, former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier, former White House pastry consumer Barbara Bush, and recondite Democrat Zell Miller come to push product. A few minutes before Gingrich was scheduled to appear to sign copies of Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War, which he co-wrote with William R. Forstchen, two dozen people stood in line awaiting his arrival. Jim Wehrle of Pennsylvania, a mild-mannered man with thinning brown hair, said he'd come because "Newt Gingrich is a conservative Republican hero. He's taken a lot of bad press in recent years, but quite frankly, if it wasn't for New Gingrich, I don't think the Republicans would have the majority that they do." "He's a great man," agreed Felice Bennett, a twentysomething blonde from Alaska. "I think he still has his following, and I think people still believe in him and his ideals."

Half an hour later, Gingrich was nowhere to be seen. In the crowd, which had more than doubled in size, people anxiously craned their necks to look for the one-time revolutionary. "Alright, Newt, where are ya?" demanded Diane Taylor of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was buying copies of Grant Comes East for her two sons, both of whom are Civil War reenactors. "Of all the book signings here, this is the one I really wanted to get to, and I'll be really disappointed if he doesn't show up." A moment later, when Gingrich finally appeared, the expectant audience members burst into applause and happy shouts: "Yay!" "There he goes!" "Yeah!"

I waited in line for about 20 minute next to Taylor, a timid but friendly woman who labored to convince me to vote for Bush. (Unlike Kerry, she explained, Bush is a "decisive leader" who "doesn't look at the polls when he's deciding what to do.") After I snapped Diane's picture with Gingrich, I asked if he could take a quick question from a reporter. "Not now," he muttered, shaking his head without making eye contact. One of Gingrich's handlers told me to try again in a half hour, so I did. Gingrich refused again, dismissing me with the curt gesture of an Important Man whose time is too valuable to waste.

If Gingrich had deigned to talk to me as he exited the Grand Old marketPlace with his entourage, here's what I would have done. I would have asked him if he thought the Contract with America, which gave Republicans control of the House for the first time in four decades, had paved the way for the current Republican Golden Age. Then I would have asked for his take on the state of conservatism today, given that Bush -- with his zealous deficit spending and creation of an expensive new entitlement program -- seems to be transforming the very meaning of the word. Finally, I would have asked Gingrich if he he'll be remembered as the man who reinvigorated American conservatism or as a failed politician and author of lowbrow historical fiction. I wish I'd had a chance to hear his answers.


Issue Date: September 1, 2004
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