Newt Lightyear

Newt Gingrich has always displayed, throughout his political career, a fascination with space that lingers on obsession.  As far as that goes, he is allowed.  After all, each of us has something that lives inside us, and for Newt, it happens to be a fascination with space and its exploration.

There comes a time, however, when that obsession has to be placed aside in deference to reality.  Interestingly, the two factors have combined to raise serious questions about Newt, his judgment, and his ability to understand the “common” American.

Newt came to Florida this week as the possible front-runner in his battle with Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.  His desire to secure the nod has led to behavior that is in keeping with that desire, while at the same time, possibly destroying it.

Gingrich was at Brevard Community College as part of a roundtable discussion concerning the space program.  The audience, obviously, contained many members whose economic well-being has declined in accordance with dwindling funding of the space program.

In an attempt to win their votes – in other words, pander to them – Newt made promises to them, without realizing that, to the rest of America, he was sticking his foot into his mouth.  Perhaps he has become too accustomed to the latter to notice.

Newt literally promised the moon.  He wants to establish a colony there, with a tourism trade to follow, buttressed by more than five daily launches from earth.  To the moon and beyond, promises Newt, who also raised the hope of using the moon base as a launch pad to Mars.

It will all happen within the scope of a Gingrich presidency, meaning 2020 would be the outside date for achievement.

Gingrich is clearly trying to accomplish here what John Kennedy promised in his 1961 pledge to achieve a moon landing by the end of that decade.  The only problem, which Gingrich seems to be missing, is that the world is in a totally different place today.  Physically, it may be the same distance from the moon, but in all other aspects, it is light-years away.

The America of 1961 differs greatly from the America of today.  At that time, our nation was in the throes of its greatest days ever, and expansion was presumed in all directions, including towards the moon.

Today, contraction is more the rule than expansion, with average Americans worrying more about a trip to the grocery store or gasoline station than one to the moon or beyond.

All of which brings into question concerns over Gingrich’s ability to understand things as they are in everyday life rather than the privileged world in which he lives.  The charm from a doddering old man fantasizing about space travel is trumped by people worrying about how to pay their bills.

Gingrich came into Florida riding the crest of a wave that appealed to worried voters.  All he needed was to not say something stupid to undermine it.  That was apparently too much to be asked.