Gingrich a loose cannon for Republican Party

Newt Gingrich is bright and glib. He's also an erratic and smug intellectual. Above all, Gingrich is unelectable.

Pairing himself with the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Al Sharpton shows how eccentric Gingrich is. Trying to shoot down Paul Ryan's economic plan as “right wing social engineering” and his misguided attack on Mitt Romney for “laying off employees and bankrupting companies” show that Gingrich is just not a maverick but a loose cannon. And no matter what some people try to say about marital infidelity and a person's private life being irrelevant, they are very relevant when it comes to showing character, and character is an important quality for someone who wants to be president.

Gingrich is riding a wave right now because of how he has handled himself in the debates, where his glibness - which is about all Gingrich really has to offer - is being spotlighted.

Republicans should hope that Gingrich flames out now during the primaries, because if he gets the Republican nomination it is almost a certainty that he'll flame out later.

Larry Blades

Iowa City