CSPAN has a treasure trove of old videos that feature the early days of some of the men who still persist in the Government of the United States. This video from this day in 1984 featuring Newt Gingrich and Byron Dorgan, both as House Representatives is an apropo example of the man who became the candidate. Bear in mind, this is not entirely a Newt-hate... the permanent marks he's left on this country are undenyable.
Cliffs:
What follows on this entry is a reading of notes taken while watching this video, in particular attempting to understand the root of support each men had and held from that time to the present. Byron Dorgan went on to become the Senor Senator North Dakota, retiring in Jan, 2011, after 30 years of public service.
The video is a standard call-in interview show with a CSPAN interviewer moderating.
- Newt defends Reagan's creation of the deficit as something the President had to do because of existing laws on the books. Dorgan says it was unfunded defense spending that drove the deficit issue in the U.S.
- Newt tauts the forum as a National Town Hall. Dorgan raises concerns about building partisanship in Washington.
Based on this video and other relevant historical documents and memories, Newt Gingrich was one of the chief instruments involved in the beginnings of what has become complete party polarization. Newt continually vilified "liberals" and "liberal democrats" in the same breath. That's a message he's maintained for at least 27 years now.
Dorgan tried to come up with a response to this line of reasoning by claiming that he didn't know whether he was a liberal or a conservative. This has proven itself to be a mistake of misundestanding realpolitik and group dynamics. Dorgan lost sight of the idea that it's not about what you say about yourself, but about the impression you are able to be portrayed as by people like Gingrich who only seek to control the mass of men rather than agree with them on much. Newt, on the other hand, created a durable and dynamic meme that has lasted 30 years... inaccurate as it may be.
It's hard to blame Dorgan for that, though. He was speaking to the crowd that understood the nuts and bolts of governance, while Newt was appealing to populism and ignorance. Dorgan did manage to get some very useful statistics into the conversation, however. Like Reagan getting Congress to pass his $915-920 Billion dollar budget proposal, Dorgan left clues to determine the conditions of that time to a relative statistic for today. Unfortunately our budgets today are in the Trillions.
One particular trait that stands out in the conversation is Newt's consistently seizing the initiative on topics he looks to shape and spin to support his positions. His claim, or the impression left on the callers who said it, that Newt is not a "Washington Politician" is hilariously current since that is his current claim in the Presidential Campaign of 2012. Dorgan managed to mention that his impression of Newt is inaccurate, and that he is a "very good politician."
One piece of history it's important not to lose is something brought up by one of the callers: That Carter conceded too early (9:01pm EST), and that people who were waiting in line to vote on the West Coast stepped out of line when they heard his concession. This act not only affected Carter, who likely had already lost the campaign, but a great number of Democratic Candidates for the House of Representatives or the Senate. Carter's concession, in other words, had a major role in the Republicans gaining a toe-hold in their advance to take over the government (which they clearly did under George W. Bush, to evident effect).
-Newt's obstructionism in the house was a subject of controversy even then...
-Dorgan on political messaging: 60% of the budget cuts came from the programs that benefitted the poor. These cuts were to make room for a dramatic increases in the military budget year after year. Reagan coupled cutting social programs with deficit spending to stockpile enormous military might. He's the "Teflon President."
-Newt throwaway lines: The Reagan tax cuts created 4.5 million jobs (there is no direct evidence of this); I think we need dramatic reforms in military spending (this means nothing to anyone in the real world); I don't want to see anybody in America starve (again, means nothing... useless rhetoric).
Dorgan- Conservatives aren't asking to cut spending, but just to change where the money is being spent (still mostly true today).
Dorgan summation: We're in better shape than under Carter (a mistake and tacit approval of the GOP). We need to address the deficit. Building more and more arms doesn't create a safer world. Military programs have gone from $4B in spending to $20B in a few years and things are definately not "better."
Newt summation: We have REAL, DEEP DIFFERENCES in Washington (remember this was 28 years ago TODAY)
All that said, the lesson I take away from this video is not that Newt was right or wrong about what he was saying, but rather the structure of what he says versus the 28 years of evidence of it's effect. It's time to take things very seriously. 2010 proved that there is enough support in this country for really radical voices to make their way to the upper echelon of the American conversation on Governance and Government.
For more conversations like these please visit The politics section of Polymath Enterprises Forum specifically set up to highlight civic reality in the state of Florida. Thank you.
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