Well, Gingrich is more or less correct in his observation that the Beltway wonkery and punditti are particularly out of touch this cycle. But this is a lot like writing or polling people on HOW BLUE the sky is... one year they'll say it's VERY blue, the next year they'll say it's blue-grey, and a third they'll say it's light blue.

The nature of the beltway is defined by the excesses of the current fund raising strategies and leadership WITHIN the two-party system. During the primary run up to an open election, the candidates try to pander to the very vocal and well represented interests of their base supporters whilst at the same time looking ahead to the general election where excessively partisan statements will be used against them. The truth is that the U.S. electorate is around 60-65% either Republican or Democrat, and 35-40%, "other".

When one of the Parties has a very polarizing ideologue as their front runner, as the Democrats have in Candidate Hillary, the opposite beltway Party doesn't really have to do much soul searching, as the GOP will benefit from very active centrist or Libertarian/Independent voters like myself who remember Hillary Clinton's Co-Presidency and will support pretty much ANY GOP candidate running against her. This will become very clear as we progress into the ACTUAL election year and the polls begin to reflect a more even spread across the spectrum of likely voters. The NRA, not yet particularly active in comparison to left wing issue organizations at present, and others will begin to seriously organize (again, AGAINST Hillary, not necessarily FOR a paricular Republican) as will the AMA, non-financial industrial and tech organizations (remember that Bill and Hillary made PERSONAL enemies of Bill Gates) will all create a cascade effect that will peak around mid-summer.

Gingrich, in my opinion, understands that these basically NON-GOP supporters lining up against Hillary will be claimed by the various GOP candidates and their beltway admirers as proprietary and global rather than cyclical and reactionary. You Republicans will TELL yourselves that YOU don't need to reform yourselves in a mistaken belief that opposition to Hillary is the same as support for the GOP... and the critical flaws common to BOTH entrenched beltway Parties will go unreformed, at least until 2010 when Hillary, Pelosi, and company (i.e. the "New Left") finally are replaced by "Blue Dog" Democrats .

Thus what Gingrich is really trying to bring to beltway Republican's attention is the prospect of having to FACE and Defend towards the CENTER of the electorate, rather than merely being the Party that ISN'T Left Wingnut radicals. If the hard Left wing Democrats go down fighting, it's likely that the beltway will find itself representing 55% of the electorate rather than the current 60-65%. And when 45% of the electorate IS NOT represented in Congress or the Executive or across the Beltway, it won't matter what EITHER the WP OR the WT thinks... reform will be forced on Washington in the form of "third" Parties created to cater to the radical left AND the radical Center. The "New Green" party on the Left will merely be annoyingly well funded, but a New Reform Party in the Center will split the GOP the way the GOP has been splitting the Democrats.

Politicians are not looking for what is best for the nation, they are looking at their agenda's. The public will get a 'compartmentalized' slam dunk bandaid like the immigration debacle and then its move ahead with the agenda, whether is is getting positive feedback or not. There is no middle ground. That's why we have not had an significant legislation passed in the past seven years. Maybe we should become a nation of acts instead of laws, that seems to be the dynamics of the times.