First off, let me say that I know that Newt is not perfect, nobody is. Yes I know that he has let us down in the past, those of us who consider ourselves conservative that is. I know that he has not been the best husband to his many wives, but belonging to the club of buying perfume in six packs myself, I will not hold that against him. His appearance with Nancy Pelosi on the love seat pushing for a cap and trade program ticked me off as well, and I hope he is over the political pandering phase of his life. He also at one time, was the voice of conservatism, and stood all alone in the well of the House and spoke eloquently to only a hand full of people about conservative principles, free market economics, and the positive spirit that made America the single most successful nation in Earth’s history. So, let me ask all of you, who is the perfect candidate? I have heard gaffes from each of the Republicans already to fill a book the size of the U.S. tax code. Every one is guilty. President Obama sets the bar so low that in fact I would even consider voting for Ron Paul, and he is the definition of clearly insane. It is my belief that focusing on a person’s negatives, and those alone is the exact wrong way to go about choosing our next President. While I agree that it is important to thoroughly vet our national leaders before turning over the keys to the country so to speak, (If these last three years have taught us anything, they have taught us that,) I also feel that looking at the positives aspects of a person’s ability and ideas are as important as well.
This decision was a tough one for me, but not for the reasons that many might believe. There are three candidates who stand out in my opinion. Make no mistake about it, Bozo the clown would defeat Barack Obama were he nominated by the GOP to face him in the General Election next year. Electability has not factored into this for me at all. We are all hearing about who is capable of winning against Obama next year and who is supposedly not. It is all nonsense. That is why my endorsement will not be for,
Hat tip to 1389 for the pic.
There is no reason to nominate another confused Democrat to be the standard bearer for the Republican brand. We tried that in 2008 at the suggestion of the New York Times, and how exactly did that work out for us? That eliminates Mitt Romney, pictured above, and John Huntsman as well. While I agree with the Libertarians about 70% of the time, the 30% of the time that I do not is important enough to actively campaign against them. For that reason, I must say sorry to Ron Paul and Gary Johnson, economically you are usually spot on, (more Johnson than Paul,) but your beliefs in isolationism and completely open and undefended borders is to say the least, scary. Besides, the Libertarians already have a political party, (shockingly called the Libertarian Party,) and I can see no reason to have them co-opt the GOP. Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachman, I have never really felt comfortable aligning with the Social Conservatives. Usually, although admittedly not in either of your cases, the Social issues are the only conservative views that they hold. I give you Mike Huckabee. A social Conservative and an economic Marxist would for me, be the worst of all worlds. While both of you have always supported the free markets and fiscal conservatism, those have been the less forcefully stated opinions you have both expressed over the years. While it is true that not a single school board anywhere in America which instituted Creation Science has survived the ensuing school board elections, and it is nice to see our Constitution do what it was designed to do in each of these instances, I am not comfortable with the concept that a Santorum or Bachman Presidency would serve to go against the very principles we conservatives believe in by choosing this moment and issue to challenge the Tenth Amendment. My field has now been whittled to three, Perry, Cain, and Gingrich.
I like each of these three, and would be excited to vote for any one of them in November of next year. What it comes down to was the specific ideas brought to the table by Gingrich’s 21st Century Contract With America. Gingrich has promised to put an end to much of what has caused our economic ills in this country, specifically repeal of Obamacare, Sarbanes Oxley, Frank Dodd, and the Community Reinvestment Act. He has promised to allow the free markets to openly produce as much energy as we Americans choose to, and to not get in the way of any energy production. That right there, would be the single greatest economic stimulus package since the Eisenhower Administration, and it would have the virtue of actually saving us a fortune on administrative costs for a cessation of wasteful government spending to enforce laws which make things that already were illegal extra double illegal.
Gingrich also proposes enforcement of the Tenth Amendment, which is a good start in forcing back the encroachment of a bloated federal behemoth which has grown far beyond the size and scope of anything our national fathers had in mind when establishing our Republic. Decentralized government, one that separates authority and places checks and balances upon those in charge have served to insure that we would not ever fall victim to those who would seek to usurp the power derived from our citizenry, or to the passing momentary passions of angered mobs. The United States of America is comprised of 50 individual and sovereign states, and not the other way around. He has been solid in all of the debates so far, and to tell you quite honestly, part of me only wishes he would win the nomination just to see the fun which would ensue from an Obama/Gingrich debate. (I have a feeling though that this debate would never take place due to the fact that Team Obama would never allow him to be seen in any forum where he would be expected to match wits with Newt.) Speaker Gingrich provides a positive vision for an American Success story, something we have not had since the days of Reagan. While he is prone to occasional bouts of pandering, and he will capitulate his ideals in order to negotiate a deal, (something which has become a major sore spot for many conservatives over the last two decades,) he is also someone who does not have hearing problems when an angered electorate points out the fact that they are upset with a direction he may take. Boiled down, governing against the expressed will of the American People is why Barack Obama is going to lose next year.
In short, I feel that the positives of Gingrich outweigh his negatives. I also feel he possesses the most positive vision for America’s future, and has backed that vision up with solid specifics as to how to accomplish that vision.
