Cardiff: I liked Newt back in the 1990s, and for largely the same reason that I liked Clinton: He was a policy wonk.
You mention smart and fast on his feet (although Clinton ate his lunch on more than one occasion) and he was definitely both. He also had an innate understanding of politics and how to get things done.
Those elements are largely missing from the GOP, which now just settles for naysaying everything, while not offering any meaningful alternatives or good policy-driven responses.
The key element behind the GOP not only taking power with Reagan, but holding it all of those years, was solid, well-thought and -crafted policy positions. Whether talking about the Soviets and the Cold War, or the economy, or just the state of the union, the GOP had the message down and knew how to sell it.
Now its just bile and vitriolic spew and this retrenchment into religious self-righteousness and railing against everything that doesn’t meet the Beck/Hannity/Limbaugh/Palin sniff test.
