Posted on 10/15/2006 10:19:30 AM PDT by rob777
If you have not seen it, “Cinderella Man” is wonderful and powerfully moving movie. Directed by Ron Howard, it stars Russell Crowe, who plays James J. Braddock, the boxer who was a contender for the 1929 heavyweight world championship.
During the prosperous late 1920s, Braddock was on top of the world until the stock market crash of 1929. Like many Americans, Braddock lost his home and his fortune and almost his family.
With a broken hand and a revoked boxing license, Braddock was pronounced “down for the count” by the boxing world. Forced to sell everything they had, Braddock and his family ended up living in root cellar.
Desperate to keep his family together, Braddock did find sporadic work as stevedore on the docks of New York, but he was eventually forced to go on public assistance.
Then at his darkest hour, lighting struck when—on a day’s notice—Braddock was given a “one time” chance—a last-minute substitution to fight on the heavyweight card at Madison Square Garden.
To the surprise of all the prognosticators, Braddock won. He went on to fight in a round-robin elimination that earned him the right to fight for the championship.
The rest, as they as they say, is history.
Nicknamed in 1935 "The Cinderella Man" by Damon Runyon, Braddock was a 10-1 underdog and thought to have little or no chance to defeating the champion Max Baer. His victory, in a 15-round decision, ranks as one of the biggest upsets in sports history. (Braddock gave the government back every dime he’d received while on public assistance.)
Which bring me to Newt Gingrich. Like Braddock, Newt Gingrich was written off and on to the list of political “has beens.” The Washington “political elite” pronounced him “down for the count.”
Gingrich, who had led the GOP out of the wilderness in 1994 and into the majority in Congress for the first time in 40 years, was supposed to be “finished.”
Well as Mark Twain once said (and I paraphrase) the reports of Newt’s political death have been greatly exaggerated.
Newt is back.
Once most political leaders leave office, they rapidly fade away—but not Newt. He is in high demand, speaking to a wide range of audiences whose interest varies from healthcare to global trade, to science, to education, to national security. People, whose interest may be piqued because of his celebrity status, are listening to what he is saying and it is often not what they expected. He recently spoke to the liberal New School in New York City’s Greenwich Village. His topic was a “new birth of freedom” for the poor. He appeared earlier this year with former Sen. John Edwards at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles on the same topic. Edwards should have owned this event, but it was Newt who won them over.
Newt has also been busy writing, not just opinion pieces but, since leaving office he has published five books, including three Civil War novels, and is about to release a book from an historian’s perspective of God in America, a book on transformation and large-scale change, and a book on the environment (as a professor he taught environmental studies).
But, while Newt is changing the minds of those who did not think they could find themselves in agreement with him, he is also having a conversation with the conservative base who are longing for a reconvening of the conservative movement, and he is communicating in a way no one else is. Gifted with clarity, Newt and his message to the GOP has been tough.
Most recently, he penned a piece offering his unvarnished opinion on what is not working in what he calls an emerging Third World War and what we should do about it. He also wrote his own version of a 2006 “Contract with America” for the GOP called “the American Eleven,” which details eleven issue for the GOP to champion from English as the official language of government, to eliminating the death tax to winning the war on terrorism. His on-target advice is designed to save what could rightly be called his majority. In a year when the “Inside the Beltway” crowd is defending the status quo, Newt Gingrich is driving the issue agenda for conservatives and the GOP
While many in the establishment may not appreciate Newt’s tough love, he is turning out record numbers at GOP fundraising events for candidates across the country. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, he shows up on the nation’s top conservative talk radio shows, he has a 90-second radio commentary the airs on more than 400 talk-radio stations, he writes a weekly newsletter for this very publication, and his book “Winning the Future” serves as a conservative handbook for renewing the conservative movement.
But the mainstream press also sees him as a serious opinion leader. Newt has appeared on “Meet the Press” twice this year, as well as numerous other public affairs shows of record.
Through shear force of will and physical endurance, James Braddock fought his way back to the top. Similarly, Newt Gingrich is defining the way forward, not just for himself, but for the conservative movement with his intellectually creative solutions to what he calls “win the future.” Like Braddock, Gingrich will not be counted out. Whether he runs of not, Newt is likely to lead in setting the agenda.
Believe it, Newt Gingrich is up and off the canvas, more mature but in top condition to help forge a Reagan center-right coalition for the GOP. Stay tuned for the next round in this “Cinerellaman” story.
Mr. Rotterman is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation and a GOP consultant.
I hope he is successful in shaping the GOP's agenda, again.
Newt has ideas. I don't agree with all of them, but he seems like one of the few politicians out there who is thinking up new possibilities and throwing them out there rather than just rehearsing tired rhetoric.
Nice article. I used to remember Newt speaking in our church when I was a kid.
Glad he's come back swinging and reminding us of Glory days. I enjoy him on Hannity and his books are pretty good.
Be prepared for the MSM and the Dems to trot his private life back out again. His mama's interview with Connie Chung was priceless, though!
Newt would be my choice for Prez, were it not for his personal baggage. However, he would stand a good chance of winning were his opponent someone with even more baggage then he (think "Hillary").
Amen to that.
Newt has done penance for his dalliances while in office, now he needs to break back on the scene with a clear conscience.
I wish Newt all the luck in the world. He made his mistakes and paid dearly for them.
One thing he never did is to give up on being a good conservative.
One thing for sure, any RAT candidate has nothing to offer in ideas that compare to those of Newt.
The House GOP fell apart when Newt resigned.
The House GOP fell apart when Newt resigned.+
So did the rest of the party as the House under Newt was its heart and soul.
Newt has done penance for his dalliances while in office, now he needs to break back on the scene with a clear conscience"
Absolutely. We need men such as Newt. He is a brilliant man who understands the threat to our way of life. I'd love to see him as President.
Amen to that! It is my sincere hope that he can rise above those who live in glass houses and throw stones.
I have always been awed by his keen intellect and grasp of the foundation of "The Republic". And then his great ability to communicate that grast to "we the people".
I love the movie "Cinderella Man," but find the comparison to Mr. Gingrich to be sorely lacking.
But the question is, will he be forgiven like many going through their rehab in the public light, especially the Hollywood Crowd.
It is not for me to know what is in his heart, but has he truly changed?
At this point he is only one with any ideas, and a sense of leadership.
I said many eons ago on this board, he was the one to watch and would influence the platform, I think I am going to be right on that.
Etu Brutus?
You praise his "leadership," but I don't agree.
Newt is the epitome of the poll and focus group-driven politician.
He's forever trying to figure out which way the people are going so he can jump in front of the crowd and pretend that he led them there.
The only thing is, it never really works, fully. Folks like that are always reacting instead of acting; and in practice they're always one step behind the pace of history.
Personally, I'm looking for leaders for the conservative movement who don't need a poll or a focus group to know what the right thing to do is.
Bump!
Newt is back. Not only back, but poised to make a considerable difference in the 2008 Presidential race.
No question, Newt intends to get into the debate on the direction the party will go. As of the moment, the choice of potential candidates is being steered to center-moderates and liberal-center, with Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. While any of these stand a chance against a relatively unknown offering from the Dem'crats, the ones being trotted out by the mainstream media on the Dem'crat side are all given a total pass on their errors of the past, and have been getting the star treatment for years.
Newt may not be selected to be part of the 2008 Presidential team. But he is going to force the other potential Republican candidates to sharpen their rhetoric in reference to the liberal-vs-conservative debates, and keep them focused on the larger prize, which is to preserve and expand the positive values that make this country the powerhouse it is and should be.
Wouldn't it be funny if Newt were to run against the slimy hag and beat her in 08?
Oh that would be a popcorn, beer moment to witness....
One cannot buy gravitas. Newt would make a good Senator. President? Nope
We are all mere humans & most of us have things we've done in the past that we deeply regret. He has lived through his sins out in public view.
I'll leave judging him to God. I'm able to forgive him.
Many others in office & running for office have no room to talk or judge him.
We will see if the conservative base - no matter christian or jew will have the courage to back a man who will serve our cause.
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