Newt Gingrich’s rise to leader of the pack among Republican presidential hopefuls isn’t an accident nor is he just the GOP flavor of the month. Gingrich is the most formidable and qualified candidate to take on Barack Obama and win, something conservatives are coming to realize, which is why the New Hampshire Union Leader endorsed Newt Gingrich in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary because he is most capable of leading the country out of this mess.
The more Gingrich debated his colleagues, the more people liked him. In every debate Gingrich has performed deftly, offering common sense solutions to problems facing America from entitlement reform to foreign relations. He also acted like a statesman in debates, never falling for liberal moderators’ bait of trashing his colleagues. As Newt often reiterates, “any one of us on this stage could do a better job than Barack Obama.”
This is why the left wing media continues to relentlessly push Mitt Romney as the GOP front runner because they know Romney will be a weak challenger to Obama and likely lose. Conversely, the prospect of Newt getting the GOP nomination petrifies Democrats and their media handmaidens because they know Newt would rip Obama to shreds in live debates, reducing him the withering example of failure that he is.
What’s right about Newt is exactly what’s wrong with Romney. Instead of taking firm positions on issues, Romney sways all over the place, attempting to appeal to everyone. Whether it’s Romneycare, guns, or abortion, his position keeps changing, leaving voters asking, “Will the Real Mitt Romney please stand up?”
Romney hasn’t really excelled in any of the debates so far yet liberal publications like the Washington Post headlines always declare him winning the debates. Puh-leeze! As Romney tries to figure out what kind of Republican, he wants to be when he grows up, Newt already knows. In talking about how he would deal handle foreign relations on topics such as Iran and Pakistan, Newt is decisive and doesn’t hedge trying to come up with a vague answer.
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During the CNN/Heritage debate, Gingrich said he would bomb Iran’s nuclear facility then replace its regime. He also advocated the US stop giving billions of dollars in aid to countries like Pakistan who claim to be our friend when they are our enemies. Pakistan sheltered Osama bin Laden for over 5 years. Gingrich said Pakistan should earn its aid by proving it’s a real partner in the war on terror and providing US with real counter terror intelligence.
During his time as Speaker of the House, Gingrich balanced the federal budget, reformed welfare and forced President Clinton to govern toward the center. Fact not fiction, even though left wing media fantasizes otherwise. On debt reduction, Newt derided Obama and Congress for creating the deficit reduction Supercommittee, calling it a “dumb idea” and doomed from the start because how 12 members be anointed as to be the super negotiators who supplant the opinion of the rest of the 435 members of Congress. As he said, “Congress didn’t do its job.”
What could be an Achilles heel for Gingrich is immigration. During the recent CNN/Heritage debate, Gingrich surprised liberals and conservatives alike by responding to a question on immigration reform, "If you've been here 25 years and you've got three kids and two grandkids, you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out."
To many conservatives, picking an arbitrary number of years for illegal immigrants to live in the US to qualify for earned citizenship appears to be a slippery slope towards endorsing carte blanche amnesty for the 11 million people living illegally in this country. Gingrich will need to explain his position more fully to ease some conservatives anxiety over his initial comments.
But despite this shortcoming, Gingrich is truly the only adult on the stage among the GOP contenders. As the New Hampshire Union Leader put it “Newt Gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate” but he has strong convictions, courage and is “best equipped for the job” of President of the United States. This is more than we can say for Obama or Romney.
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