Admit it, it Could be Newt

I note with smug satisfaction the growing buzz for Newt Gingrich.

For months now, I’ve felt like the Prophet Jeremiah, prophesying destruction to people who won't listen or believe me. Yes, Newt has a staggering number of very ugly skeletons in his closet. Yes, his campaign stumbled badly out of the gate. But everything that's happened since then has only helped him.

Rick Perry looked poised to steal Newt's abrasive Small-Government thunder, but he's nowhere near as quick on his feet - as we learned last night. Bachmann has the abrasive part down, but she's a largely one-dimensional character. Herman Cain: nuff said.

I think it deserves mention that Gingrich's campaign looks poised to take off so long after so many had declared it dead in the water. He may have lost most of his ground crew but guess what? He didn't really need them right now, anyway. His personal charisma and rhetorical flair has carried him effortlessly through a seemingly relentless cycle of televised debates that have caused his right-wing competition to melt in the heat and which have also failed to inspire enthusiasm for centrists like Romney and Huntsman.

The world needs to wake up to the fact that it is perhaps more likely than moderate Republicans like David Frum would like to admit that Newt could wind up leading the charge against Obama next year. And if Europe's slow burning fuse derails the fragile recovery between now and next November, even crazier things might happen.