If Thompson somehow falters, Gingrich still waits backstage. Expect him to seize the opportunity if there is one. Has Gingrich outsmarted them all? We can't know yet.
By the way, the "hanging out with fat people" approach doesn't just apply to presidential candidates. The Republican immigration-reform fiasco makes the point, too.
The fat guys, so to speak, included Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mel Martinez of Florida. They gorged too long on that immigration bill, even as other senators correctly saw that the Republican voting base had no stomach for it.
The chances for the bill's passage started to unravel when Georgia Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss made it clear to the White House that they could no longer support any immigration bill that didn't prominently allocate specific funding to build a border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House said no. That signaled an about-face retreat from the bill by a slew of "red state" senators.
Isakson, Chambliss and others backed off the bill soon enough to escape most of the public wrath that could cause long-term political damage. Others joined them, making this group look attractively "thin" up against the political obesity of Graham, Martinez and others.
Politics, like most everything else, is mostly about timing. One day you're slender and have the world by the tail. The next day you've gained weight, and maybe a few facial lines on top of it.
All the more reason to hang out with people who make you look good.s |