George Will Says Newt Gingrich is ‘Not a Serious Candidate’

During his appearance on ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour,” columnist George F. Will said that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is not a serious candidate for president.

“He’s been out of elective office for 12 years,” said Will. “Now, John Quincy Adams was out for 17 years when he became President — but he was John Quincy Adams.

“Newt Gingrich’s problems are so far beyond just his multiple marriages and all that,“ continued Will. “His ethanol love affair right now. On the 7th of March he said, “Let’s go get Qaddafi.” On the 23rd of March he says, ‘I never favored intervention.’ He did it on television. … He’s one of these people who says that to understand Barack Obama you need to understand his ‘Kenyan anti-colonial mentality.’  This is just not a serious candidate.”

You can view Will’s remarks here.

While acknowledging that the race for the Republican nomination appears wide open at this early juncture, the Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist said that he thinks the contest will eventually come down to former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty or Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has yet to declare his intentions.

“This is the most open scramble on the Republican side since 1940 when Wendell Willkie came out of the woodwork and swept the field,” said Will. The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist said that he disagreed with those who believe the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination has been slow to take shape. “I think that’s wrong. I think we know with reasonable certainty that standing up there on the West front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2013, will be one of three people: Obama, Pawlenty and Daniels.

“I think that’s it,” he concluded.

2 Comments

  1. Author seems overly impressed with “Pulitzer Prize-winning” Will. Liberals love prizes. Conservatives value problem solving.

  2. Sometimes “Pulitzer-Prize winning” is just a descriptive adjective. I am neither a fan nor (much of) a critic of George Will. He is decent enough most days.

    He isn’t much different form other journalists in stating “X is just not a serious candidate.” I would think that a fair minded journalist would state that “I find it difficult to take X seriously” instead of presuming for the audience but perhaps other people prefer to have their deciding done for them.

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