Chicago, January 9, 2012- There are old pilots. There are bold pilots. There are no old bold pilots. Newt Gingrich should have taken that aviation proverb to heart.
Newt Gingrich made the bold assertion that Mitt Romney would hurt the GOP if he is nominated. “The party’s core principles would be undermined.” (Washington Times)
If anyone is hurting and undermining the GOP it’s Newt Gingrich. He is spouting old bold ideas that no longer reflect the views of America. Newt is also angry and his anger demostrated he does not have the temperament to be the president.
Newt Gingrich should cut the bilious baloney. He can’t win against the president. Attacking the credentials of his rival will not change that.
Gingrich’s attack on Romney is vengeful, personal, mean spirited, angry, and petty. If he thinks this race is about conservative principles, party purity, or the Republican Party itself, he is madly delusional. Funnier still, he is attacking Romney all the while complaining about Romney’s ads attacking him. Gingrich, being a typical politician, wants to have it both ways.
If Newt Gingrich was so concerned about the Republican Party he should have been working within the party structure for the past three years instead of for himself. He can’t come out of mothballs and claim he is the party’s salvation or elder statesman. Especially when others have been doing the heavy lifting. He is entitled to nothing.
Like President Obama, Newt Gingrich is rooted in the belief he is smarter than everyone else. Just ask him. He’ll tell you and tell you why. He thinks he is the most intellectual candidate in the race. He’s is only the most arrogant.
Newt is out of touch with reality. This election is not going to be about the political parties. GOP Chairman Reince Priebus clearly made that point during a television interview on Sunday. Voters don’t care if either party is saved or destroyed. People do not care about improving the fortunes of political parties. They only care about improving their fortunes. It is all about them.
This time out they are not looking for better. They are demanding the best. Newt Gingrich is far from it. He is an unpredictable wild card and the public sees that.
People are not seeking old bold ideologues or ideologies. They’ve had enough of them. Democrats and Republicans alike. Voters are tired of gasbaggery. They want substance and certainty.
The upcoming election will not be determined by who can beat the president. It will be determined by who can be the president.
Newt Gingrich is not that guy. He cannot deliver certainty in uncertain times. He cannot earn the trust of the American people. He can’t even get respect from establishment Republicans, many who are supporting Mitt Romney.
Newt Gingrich keeps likening himself to Ronald Reagan, invoking some glorious Reagan conservative past. Gingrich is a legend in his own mind. There are no more Ronald Reagans and never will be. Not in the political arena or in the Republican Party. Just like there are no John F. Kennedys in the Democratic Party and never will be.
History marched on. Gingrich, the historian, should know that. Maybe he is not as smart as he thinks he is.
Gingrich conveniently elides over one of the main reasons for Reagan’s presidential accomplishments. Ronald Reagan was able to put politics and ideology aside and work with the opposition to get what he wanted. He was liked by and had the respect of Tip O’Neill, the Speaker of the House at the time.
Gingrich will never have that kind of working relationship or respect. No one likes him all that much.
America doesn’t want to replace one philosopher king with another. We’ve had enough of professorial intellectuals. We desperately need a president rooted in reality instead of abstract theories. We need common sense, a calm steady temperament, and someone who can bring people together instead of dividing them.
Gingrich, and other ideologues across the political spectrum, are taking party loyalty and ideological purity too far. Gingrich and the rest better learn one lesson. We do not elect presidents to represent their party. We elect presidents to represent us.
We need a president who can unite the nation, work with others, and accomplish things. Gingrich will just cause bigger divisions. Like Obama he would put party politics before the country. He will achieve or accomplish nothing.
Gingrich is not credible, likable, or electable. If he believes he can beat the president he is living in some alternative reality. Taking dissatisfaction, disaffection, or buyers remorse over President Obama for granted just won’t cut it.
The one good thing the media did these past three years was to keenly focus on the process and procedure of government. How bills are passed, laws enacted, and policy implemented and executed. All in minute detail. For the past three years the American people have witnessed sausage being made on a daily basis. By Democrats and Republicans. By the president and the legislature.
Newt Gingrich is a sausage maker. An old bold sausage maker. That is all he is.
It’s not enough to say the opposition is bad. You must convince us why you are better. Gingrich can’t do that.
Peter V. Bella is a retired Chicago Police Officer, freelance writer and photographer, cook, and raconteur. He likes to be the sharp stick that pokes and annoys. His opinions are his and his alone.
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