Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich: Losing the Future

Newt Gingrich is out hyping his new book, Winning the Future. That's kind of funny, considering he's behaving in a fashion that could very well destroy any hope he has of being a viable presidential candidate, in effect losing his future.

Two things are clear.

1) Hillary Clinton has begun her 2008 presidential campaign.

2) Newt Gingrich has begun his 2008 presidential campaign.

Their recent joint appearance dispels any lingering doubts about whether they each intend to make runs for the White House.

Joining forces to promote health care legislation, they appeared at a press conference together on Wednesday. Hillary and Newt standing shoulder to shoulder was a bizarre sight. In terms of political strategy, it was totally predictable.

Hillary is bending over backwards to distance herself from the lefty loons of the MoveOn wing of her party. Because the radical fringe of the secularist left has hijacked the Democrat party, Hillary knows she cannot possibly win the presidency unless she undergoes an extreme makeover now. She's bright enough to realize how many people in the country would race to cast ABH (anybody but Hill) votes if her name was on the ballot.

To counter her enormous negative numbers, Hillary needs to abandon the persona that repulses so many in the country. Of course, this is difficult to do when she goes to fund-raisers and screams out the wild rhetoric of the MoveOn, People for the American Way crowd. Hillary is banking on Red staters envisioning her as Gingrich's buddy rather than a raving maniacal Bush basher.

Similarly, Newt Gingrich thinks he can revamp his widely accepted image as a far right-winger by joining up with Hillary. In effect, their press conference was nothing more than a photo-op, each trying to show a softer and more centrist, albeit false, side to Americans.

Their strategy is so transparent that I can't imagine it being effective. People likely to vote already know Hillary and Newt. A contrived, shameless publicity stunt is not going to alter the views Americans have about them. Their images are carved in stone. I think teaming up actually does more harm than good to their presidential prospects.

Insincere flip-floppers can't get elected. Look at John Kerry.