What Romney Should Learn From Gingrich

Newt Gingrich's used to call the 1995 government shutdown "clearly wrong." Now he calls it a "historic success." Mitt Romney can learn from this.

Benjy Sarlin has a post on the evolution of Newt Gingrich's statements on the 1995 government shutdown. Where once Gingrich lamented the 1995 shutdown as "clearly wrong," he now celebrates the shutdown as a "historic success."

Compare and contrast Gingrich's treatment of the shutdown with Mitt Romney's treatment of his healthcare plan. In both cases, a major decision that looks unwise in retrospect to most Republicans. Romney has equivocated, hesitated, declined to defend his action. Gingrich has decided that a leader's important past decisions cannot be disavowed, only defended. On the merits, Romney has a better case for his decision than Gingrich does - but on the politics, surely Gingrich has it right?

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