There are inevitable rumors forming regarding the possible candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination for the 2012 election. One such rumor suggests that Newt Gingrich is considering throwing his hat into the ring for the upcoming presidential race, which begs the question: would Gingrich be an acceptable Republican candidate to oppose Obama for re-election?
Gingrich has much in his favor. Previously a Speaker of the House, he is often credited with orchestrating the Republican takeover of Congress after forty years of Democratic majority in the the House. He is a charismatic speaker and experienced statesman. Recently, he received a rousing welcome at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
There seem to be three scandals that could mar Gingrich's possibility of candidacy. First is the accusation made by the Clinton Administration that he shut down the government by refusing to pass Clinton's budget. Upon closer examination, the real explanation seems to be that Clinton decided to execute the shut down (since he was the executive with the power to do so) in order to pressure Congress to pass his budget instead of finding a compromise. Second were the ethics violations leveled against him regarding tax code violations of which he was cleared in 1999. It would be ironic to hold this against Gingrich, given that President Obama raised a man to the Department of the Treasury who had failed to pay $35,000 to the IRS prior to his nomination. Third, was the affair that Gingrich was having with his current (and third) wife which took place during the investigation of Bill Clinton's perjury regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Although it was certainly hypocritical, the difference must be noted that Gingrich was truthful publicly about his affair while Clinton lied under oath about his.
Nearly every politician has scandals marring their reputation. The real question is how these scandals will affect his possible run for the RepublicanpPresidential nomination. The answer to that question lies in the effect these scandals have on the voting public. Which scandals will the public overlook and which will they find unforgivable?
I think that scandal number one and number two will be easily overlooked. They are both the result of accusations made by Democratic Party members and can be easily chalked up to the Democrats attempting to sully the reputation of a Republican leader. A much bigger problem is scandal number three: Gingrich's inability to remain faithful to his wives.
Gingrich divorced his first wife while she was recovering from cancer and married his second wife six months later. It is a common assumption that he was cheating on his first wife with the second before his divorce. Then he admitted to cheating on his second wife with his current wife, Callista. Such a lack of moral integrity and discipline is unacceptable in a conservative leader. While we have definitely had our share of hypocritical politicians, I hope that conservatives are especially careful to hold our leaders to the moral standards they claim to bear. This character flaw of infidelity does not leave Americans much confidence that Gingrich would be able to stick with us through thick and thin.
The CPAC straw poll of around 2,400 attendees had Newt Gingrich tying sixth place with Mike Huckabee with 4 percent of the votes each. The straw poll admittedly is not scientific, but it is sometimes considered indicative of the Republican groupthink. Ahead of Gingrich and Huckabee were Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty and Mike Pence respectively.
Regardless of Gingrich's indiscretions it is important to keep his platform in mind as we consider other possible nominees. He is a staunch Republican and conservative on many issues. Compared to some candidates he will be much better and compared to others he will be much worse. As Thomas Sowell of Townhall.com says, compared with Hillary Clinton, “Newt Gingrich doesn't look bad at all.”
