Fire and Ice

NY times: Fire and Ice
Maureen Dowd uses this column to give an overview of what Newt Gingrich is doing with his campaign. although she finds it interesting when he and Obama debate, mostly because their debates are similar to those that Douglas and Lincoln had during Lincoln's first campaign in 1860. however, she also demonstrates how drastically different these two men are and what that does for the campaign. the immense difference between the men makes for a very interesting campaign. she tries to show how different these men are by using parallel syntax and presenting numerous analogies: "One hot, one cold. One struggles to stop setting fires as the other struggles to get fiery. One who’s always veering out of control, one who’s too tightly controlled. One reining it in, one letting it rip. One tamping down his pugilistic side, the other rampin it up. One channeling Ronald Reagan to seem more genial; the other channeling Harry Truman to have more spine.". these two men are total opposites: fire and ice. however, Dowd doesn't respect Gingrich as much as she does Obama. throughout the vast majority of the piece, she addresses Gingrich by his first name, Newt. she also uses numerous quotes from fellow Congressmen to show how Gingrich isn't ready to run a country yet and needs to gin some self control. Congress men have said Gingrich is “a human hand grenade who walks around with his hand on the pin, saying, ‘Watch this!’ ”,  “Let me just say, if Newt Gingrich is the smartest guy in the room, leave that room.”, and “He’s a guy of 1,000 ideas and the attention span of a 1-year-old.”. although Gingrich may have potential, Dowd doesn't believe he is ready or the presidency just yet.