For the host of conservatives who despise Newt Gingrich, the idea of a Newt vs. Obama general election ballot is unacceptable. So much so, in fact, some are proclaiming that if Newt is the nominee, they will vote for a third party candidate.
Former congressman turned MSNBC host Joe Scarborough is in this camp. On Morning Joe Tuesday, he said he “can’t vote” for Newt Gingrich. If he’s the nominee, “if Ron Paul’s running as a third-party candidate, I’m going to give him a long look.”
Glenn Beck feels the same way. To both Scarborough and Beck — who are two very different breeds of conservative — Newt “worship[s] at the altar of big government,” and that is unacceptable. Like Scarborough, Beck would go for an independent Ron Paul in that situation.
Scarborough doesn’t think he and Beck are the only ones, either. Last week on his show, he offered this devastating picture of how a Newt nomination would divide the party: “Let me tell you something: the Republican establishment will never make peace with Newt Gingrich: they just won’t! They won’t: this is an important point. Because the Republicans I talk to say he cannot win the nomination at any cost: he will destroy the party. He will re-elect Barack Obama and we’ll be ruined. That’s going to happen. I mean Newt Gingrich would possibly win 100 electoral votes.”
Of course, this is a big reason a Newt nomination is less likely than the current polls alone would warrant. To prevent a lightning rod figure like Gingrich from getting the nomination, party leaders will pull out all the stops if necessary. It’s also another reason Democrats are not trembling at the thought of Newt being the nominee.
