Newt

I used to watch Newt Gingrich's televised college lectures on obscure cable channels years ago, some time after he dropped out of elected office. I was incredibly impressed by his knowledge of history, government, and how and why politics works. This included the things that work well and the things that don't work so well. The really eye opening stuff came when he described why this was all so.

Anyway, he strikes me as being smart and incredibly knowledgeable, especially for a man whose choices in private life have made him all but un-electable. I came across these recent quotes of his on CNN.com and they've done nothing to change my opinion:

"These aren't debates. This is a cross between [TV shows] 'The Bachelor,' 'American Idol' and 'Who's Smarter than a Fifth-Grader.'"

"What's the job of the candidate in this world? The job of the candidate is to raise the money to hire the consultants to do the focus groups to figure out the 30-second answers to be memorized by the candidate. This is stunningly dangerous."

There's no way he'll run but I think I'll give him my official endorsement right now.