Yesterday, in the heat of the battle for health care reform, Newt Gingrich made a startling comparison:

But former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich said Obama and the Democrats will regret their decision to push for comprehensive reform. Calling the bill "the most radical social experiment . . . in modern times," Gingrich said: "They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years" with the enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

Aside from Gingrich's oh-so-serious concern over Democratic electoral prospects for the next 40 years, this is certainly a bizarre comparison. Apparently, for Gingrich, Democrats should regret their decision to push for civil rights legislation, because such legislation cost Democrats electorally (and it did, thanks to Nixon, the GOP, and their Southern Strategy). The merits of the legislation (in this case, desegregation) take a back seat to the political implications.

In other words, Gingrich believes that political pandering and cowardice is always preferred, even when dealing with unambiguous evils like segregation.

Makes him a perfect Republican presidential candidate.