Newt and Ambition

You know what? You really can't criticize a presidential candidate on the grounds of megalomania. Yeah, Newt thinks he's de Gaulle (I always thought it was Churchill that he fashioned himself, but either way...), but you know, it's not as if most presidential candidates see themselves as Chester Arthur or James Garfield. I'm not sure it's a negative trait, either. While there are problems with aspiring to presidential greatness, on the whole I'd rather candidates think of themselves as Lincoln than as Buchanans. And, for better or worse, if you wait for a candidate with little ambition, you'll be waiting a long time.

No, the very fact that you're running for the president, and that you presumably want to win and to then go on and actually be a very good president, means that you pretty much have to have at least a touch of megalomania. 

In other Newt news...I really enjoyed an item this morning about how GOP insiders don't much like Newt (via Goddard). Murder on the Orient Express -- that's good. 

No, Newt shouldn't be taken seriously, and in my opinion at least he's been a terrible influence on American politics for the last thirty years. But as much as I'd like to bash him, I can't complain about a presidential candidate just because he believes that it's some sort of destiny that he'll win. That much is pretty much par for the course.