As more Republicans inch toward entering the presidential race, Newt Gingrich is dialing up the rhetoric. The former House speaker warned at a Texas church meeting this week that if we're not careful, America will become a "secular atheist country, potentially ... dominated by radical Islamists." In a separate speech, Gingrich told the American Family Association that the country was being led by an "anti-Christian and anti-Jewish elite." This kind of talk, said one commentator, makes Gingrich sound like a "second-tier A.M. radio Glenn Beck wannabe." Is the 2012 presidential hopeful trying to woo the same conservative audience the Fox News favorite attracts?
The similarities are noteworthy: Gingrich is grasping for "huge, world-historical theories and systems," says Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic. He is also "too emotional to separate his feelings from his thoughts," and he has an "absurd reputation for being an intellectual." Sound like anyone else you know?
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