If there's an opportunity for Very Serious Newt Gingrich to use the welfare issue as a dog-whistle, he jumps on it faster than a new wife. This time, in particular, he totally went nuts about the latest Romney lie that President Obama is "gutting" welfare reform (he's NOT).
Newt Gingrich accused President Obama on Wednesday of a secret “radical” plot to end work requirements in welfare reform. [...]
“I think on the hard left, there is an unending desire to create a dependent America,” Gingrich said.
“It’s not just that Obama is a radical, it’s that the people he appoints are more radical,” he said. [...]
Gingrich also gushed of his former target: “I hope every American when they watch Bill Clinton speak will realize how much weaker and less effective Obama is than the man who is nominating him.” He called Obama “a direct threat to my two grandchildren’s future.”
Yes. By doing something that was far less extensive than the measures which 28 Republicans asked for, President Obama is a direct threat to Newt's grandchildren. Personally.
Uh-huh.
But we really know what Newt is doing here. He's hears "welfare" and just can't wait to play the Southern Strategy card. He did it throughout the primaries and now, I assume, he's jockying for either a VP spot or a sweet position on the RNC stage.