Newt and Al: Will the Real Abraham Lincoln Please Stand Up?

Another good post from Robinson, this time about the Newt:

Here's Newt:

I'm going to tell you something, and whether or not it's plausible given the world you come out of is your problem' .... 'I am not 'running' for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen.'

Y'know, he did that last time -- just before he became the most unpopular politician in the United States. It was called "The Contract on America."

Here's Robinson's summation:

[W]e may decide that we like Al's principles and leadership well enough to elect him. But the difference is that we all know Al is going to do his global warming thing for as long as it takes, with or without that inducement. Yeah, it may put him in a great position to run; but he seems to see that as an optional side benefit of Doing The Right Thing.

Newt, on the other hand, has already taken himself off that high road by announcing his overt political intentions right up front. He's being very frank that any attempts to create any kind of movement will be an electioneering gambit, a means toward the end of power. Which, right there, tells you all you need to know about his commitment to higher principles and priorities.

This is part and parcel of why I feel justified in calling today's conservatives cynical hypocrites: it's about power, and they can't even conceive of pushing an inssue because it is the right thing to do. Rovian thinking has so completely permeated the right wing that there is no such thing any more as an issue that carries "good" on its own terms. It's good only insofar as it plays to the base.

And I agree with Robinson's conclusion. Completely:

That said: If this issues-advocacy-based model does turn out to be a new trend in campaigning, I gotta say that it beats anything else currently on the scene. We could do worse than having our pols running around trying to find real problems to solve, and devoting themselves to creating effective solutions in order to prove to us that they're serious change leaders worthy of our respect and our votes.