by Casey Rankin
On Saturday, January 21, the political
world came to a shocking revelation: Republican voters from South Carolina had lost
their minds. Bypassing any pretense of
common sense, good judgment, or basic humanity, forty percent of South
Carolinians came to the buffoonish conclusion that former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich was the best possible choice to take on President Barack Obama in
November. When one stops to consider that
Speaker Gingrich’s career has been characterized by traits such as lack of
personal and professional discipline, his abysmal moral character, and perhaps
most importantly his record of corruption, it seems his nomination represents a
form of political malpractice on the part of the Republican Party. On every
front, Speaker Gingrich is an embarrassment to himself and his party, and he would
be the worst general election candidate in modern history.
The central rationale Speaker
Gingrich offers for his nomination is his assertion that he is the best choice
to stand toe-to-toe in the three televised debates with President Obama in the
fall. While Gingrich has consistently performed well in the never ending train
of Republican Primary debates, this is an inappropriate metric for forecasting
proficiency in general election debates. Much of Gingrich’s “success” is simply
due to his willingness to pander to audiences that are to the right of 90% of
the electorate, as well as the joy he takes in verbally assaulting the
moderators and his opponents. Neither of
these tactics seem likely to work in the more subdued general election debates,
which far more moderate voters watch, who are likely to find these tactics offensive
and immature. With his most tantalizing
asset largely neutralized, we are left to ponder the rest of Gingrich’s political
profile. Here is where it really starts
to get ugly.
Over the course of this campaign,
Gingrich has grown fond of bloviating on the “success” of his time in Congress,
particularly his four-year reign as Speaker.
While his attempts to claim credit for the success of Ronald Reagan’s
policies during the 1980’s as a backbench junior congressman are too
narcissistic and asinine to warrant serious comment, he does bring serious
accomplishments as Speaker, such as balanced budgets and welfare reform
throughout the 1990’s. However, this era also highlights some of his most
serious character flaws, namely his lack of discipline and character. In 1995, Gingrich single-highhandedly lost the
battle over the government shutdown with President Clinton when he remarked in
an interview that he shut down the government as revenge for Clinton making
Gingrich exit from the back of Air Force One at a state funeral. These kinds of
wayward comments, as well as his hypocrisy in impeaching Clinton for an affair
while carrying on one of his own, caused Republicans to lose House seats in
both ’96 and ’98. Amidst these failures and ethics violations that lead to him
being fined $300,000 by the House (the only Speaker to ever be sanctioned this
severely), his fellow Republicans successfully forced him from the Speakership,
leading him to resign in disgrace.
Gingrich’s erratic and failed record of leadership is further buttressed
by the fact that virtually none of his former colleagues who elected him as
Speaker are endorsing him for President.
Following his failed tenure as
Speaker, Gingrich decided to cash in on his influence, beginning a lucrative
career as a lobbyist. Most prominently, Gingrich collected $1.6 million from
mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Unwilling to own up to his participation in this
profession, Gingrich has cynically claimed that he was hired as a “historian”
at the “modest “ price of $25,000 a month for six years. His contract clearly contradicts
his claims, as he was hired by Freddie Mac's chief lobbyist, and the words
“history” and “historian” are absent from the document. In addition to his appalling lack of honesty,
Gingrich’s status as a lobbyist is a severe general election liability, as it
is among the public's least trusted professions. However, when it comes to
Gingrich’s dishonesty, his record on lobbying is among the least of his
problems.
Gingrich’s personal life is an
unmitigated disaster of his own creation.
From serving his cancer stricken first wife with divorce papers in 1981,
to asking his second wife, newly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, for an open
marriage in 1998, Gingrich has distinguished himself as a repulsive and
shameful excuse for a human being. While he can blame these problems on the
“lamestream media” in the primary, general election voters will look past his
weak excuses and judge him for the shameful personal life he has led,
especially considering the disingenuous attack he lead on President Clinton in
the late 90's for his extramarital adventures.
Character matters in politics, and Gingrich has less than any person who
has ever served in the Oval Office.
With all of this evidence taken
together its summation is a simple one: Gingrich
is incapable of winning the presidency. This is confirmed by decades worth of
polling: in no survey taken throughout his political career has Gingrich ever
surpassed a 43% approval rate, while consistently possessing unfavorable
ratings of 55-60%. Even more troubling, Gingrich possesses nearly 100% name
recognition, meaning that these numbers will be almost impossible to reverse.
These ratings carry over to polls pitting him head to head with President
Obama, as he loses to the president by an average of 11 points according to
Real Clear Politics, despite the president's mediocre approval rating of
46%. Gingrich’s toxic candidacy would be
catastrophic for Republican candidates running for any office in 2012, and
would likely result in our losing the House and failing to recapture the
Senate. With our country facing historic economic and international challenges,
the Republican Party cannot afford to nominate an erratic, corrupt, degenerate
lobbyist to oppose this failed president. We must nominate someone who
understands the economy, who has worked in the private sector, who has a record
of successful leadership (particularly as an executive), and who has unblemished
character who can appeal to the middle of the road voters who will decide this
election.
Fortunately for Republicans, such a
candidate exists. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney checks all of these
boxes, having started one of the most successful private equity firms in the
country, Bain Capital, who under Romney's leadership invested in companies such
as Staples, Sports Authority, Steel Dynamics, and Domino's Pizza, which employ
hundreds of thousands of people. In 2002, Romney successfully turned around the
failing 2002 Olympics, making it the most profitable Olympics in history. As
Massachusetts governor, Romney balanced four consecutive budgets without increasing
taxes on individuals or businesses, cut taxes 19 times, created a rainy day
fund, and left the state with a 4.7% unemployment rate. Romney's first rate
character is evidenced by his marriage of over forty years to his wife, and the
absence of any scandal either public or private in his career. All of these attributes
have been born out in polling, as Governor Romney is in a statistical tie with
President Obama. It is clear to all but the most ignorant that Romney is the
only credible challenger to the president, making it our patriotic duty to nominate
him.
Now is the time for Republicans to
choose competence over corruption, decency over degeneracy, record over
rhetoric, and success over scandal. It is time for Republicans to choose Mitt
Romney over Newt Gingrich.
