One of the figures least likely to give a favorable assessment of a Democratic administration is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich warned the Republicans in a new column on his website to stopunderestimating Biden.
It was a remarkable concession for a man who almost invented modern-day partisan combat. Gingrich engineered the impeachment of President Clinton, and later he assailed President Obama as a "Socialist" in disguise.
Gingrich is not a fan of Biden, and he takes a lot of jabs at him for what he calls "Big Government Socialism," a reference to the trillions of dollars the president has devoted.
He believes that the GOP attacks on the president have not been effective.
He wrote that the Biden team had one of the best off-year elections in history. They weren't rejected. They didn't have to pay for their bad management of the economy.
Biden's age has been the focus of Republican attacks. The current president's opponents made similar attacks during the 2020 primary. Gingrich doesn't believe they are working now.
We dislike Biden so much that we focus on his speaking difficulties and other flaws. Gingrich wrote that we underestimate him and the Democrats because of our aversion to him.
He compares the current president to both Eisenhower and Reagan, both of whom at times benefited from low estimates.
Murray Kempton wrote that Eisenhower was the greatest tortoise of all time. We laughed at him, we talked wistfully, and we never knew the cunning beneath the shell.
Reagan was hounded by questions about his age and mental acuity. Reagan was urged to retire by William Safire in 1983. Safire said that President Reagan would better serve the country by passing the torch to someone ready to make a fresh start.
A year later, Reagan won reelection with a 49 state victory.
Although it is not certain if Biden will seek reelection, his success in helping the Democratic Party avoid disaster in the midterms will most likely serve as an argument in favor of running again. Biden and his family are expected to make a decision during the holiday season.
Republicans are struggling to reconcile the return of Donald Trump, who is running for a third time, with a number of younger candidates who want to challenge him. Some of the same challenges will be faced by the eventual candidate when they are confronted by culture war issues.
Gingrich has waged a lot of culture wars of his own, so it would be a mistake. There isn't much understanding among leading Republicans that our system and approach failed.
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