Gingrich's apparent strategy in supporting the current legislation is to help Republicans win over seniors, who are, according to many polls, largely wary of GOP candidates. Gingrich must agree with party leaders that hanging on to the White House and the Congress is far more important than adhering to some rigid form of conservative dogma. Is this selling out? No, it's just selling -- an important job at which Republicans don't always excel.
Still, for all their good intentions, there inevitably will come a day when a new set of leaders will roll onto the scene. Looking to change the world and make a name for themselves, they will total the cost of war in Iraq, Medicare expansion, the proposed new energy bill and whatever additional initiatives the GOP can cook up, and they will cry foul. It won't happen in 2004. Too many party power brokers know the cost of rocking the boat in an election year will be too high. But eventually, new and loud voices will rail about the day when Congress went on a mad spending spree that forced future leaders to make uncomfortable decisions about how much -- not when, but how much -- to raise taxes.
Will that day be a sad one for the Republican Party? Not necessarily. Today's GOP is smart enough to address issues and pass bills that appeal to voters the party may have lost in the past. But ultimately, the party will reinvent itself again, perhaps by trawling for young voters who will be grousing about taxes, entitlements and federal debt. This ebb and flow of policies and politics is inevitable.
As one who enjoys watching the game of politics, I hope I can be there to witness this next turn of events within the Republican ranks: the moment when someone calls Newt Gingrich a liberal. That's when I'll give Newt an affectionate nudge and ask, "Does that remind you of anyone?"