Journalists for Newt

"It would be fun to watch the Hand Grenade take on Cool Hand Luke."

That's what normally tart columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in yesterday's New York Times. She provided the key to the apparent paradox we can expect from schizoid liberal journalists over the next several months: Many detest Newt Gingrich but want him to be the GOP nominee, with the goal of seeing "Hand Grenade" Newt go up against "Cool Hand" Barack Obama.

Democrat-enabling journalists want Gingrich for two reasons: He makes headlines and he's unlikely to make much headway against Obama if the two go head-to-head next fall. Dowd and others hope to have their cake-headline-making remarks-and eat it in November when their preferred candidate wins.

Conservatives who have worked with Gingrich continue to bring up negatives about him. Liberal journalists will report those but not produce as many entrepreneurial anti-Gingrich stories as might be expected. If he wins the Republican nomination, the daily blasting will begin.