Competence over Corruption: The Case for Mitt Romney over Newt Gingrich

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.