Obviously Newt isn’t the insider candidate—a nugget is buried in this video

In my lifetime I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a mobilization of bias like what I am seeing now in the 2012 Republican Primary. One by one, candidates have fallen either because of their debate performance or negative attacks.

I watched as one of the nation’s most accomplished governors, Rick Perry (Texas), was eviscerated not just because of his debate skills, but because of some of the most foolish smear stories I’ve ever read.

Herman Cain dealt with the attacks too and then he suspended his campaign.

Now former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is the target.

The barrage of negative ads began with Iowa and have run in Florida for weeks now.

Drudge ran headers claiming Gingrich “bashed Reagan” and a snippet of video made the rounds on the Web.

That was of course a lie, as far as the video went. 

If you watch—advance it to around 3:30—you’ll hear Gingrich speaking positively about President Ronald Reagan.

Here’s what so many will miss, even those who claim to know Reagan well.

Gingrich speaks about the war on drugs.

The war on drugs was a big issue not only for Reagan, but also for the First Lady. Gingrich actually highlights an issue Reagan mentioned frequently in his diaries.

I understand that some candidates want to win so much they will do or say anything to reach that goal. I understand that volunteers and strategists invest money and time in a candidate usually to advance their own interests or to achieve power or to advance a cause.

What I don’t understand is the level of vitriol aimed at a man who is one of four hoping to be president in order to work with Americans to restore the country’s strength.

One candidate has escaped the wrath of Drudge and pundits like Ann Coulter. One candidate enjoys the love of big media on both left and right though when it comes to the left this is temporary.

Most of Washington and power brokers have lined up behind a candidate and it isn’t Gingrich.

I’d say whatever your take on the 4 men left on the stage, you can most definitely conclude Gingrich is not the Washington insider.

Big hat tip to the indie blog Riehl World View for this find. Right now the only place I see any honor, for the most part, other than a few sites like Red State, Human Events and Newsmax, is in the indie blogs.

Additional articles about Gingrich are archived at The US Report.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Jan. 26, 2012)