Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who left electoral politics in 1998 after four years as the most controversial Speaker since Joseph Cannon at the beginning of the 20th century, is making clear his interest in running for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012!
While not declaring his candidacy, he is traveling in the first caucus and primary states, and while in Iowa, he spoke openly about his planning to run, and the fact that he will decide by the early months of 2011!
It is true that it is already time for presidential candidates to travel to the first states that are part of the marathon race for the White House, and many have been in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But none have gone as far as Gingrich in openly promoting the idea that he plans to run!
Gingrich is, obviously, a very intelligent man of deep thoughts and ideas, and were he to be the nominee against President Barack Obama, it would be a very intellectual race, probably only matched by John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, and Woodrow Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes in 1916, in the past century!
But Gingrich is also a “flamethrower” who utilizes outrageous, irresponsible statements, and throughout his career in the House, he was more interested in being controversial than in promoting unity or compromise!
If “politics is the art of compromise”, then Gingrich is clearly the wrong kind of person to lead the nation in a difficult time economically, socially, and internationally! His Presidency would be far more divisive, and make the political split that exists in Washington, DC far worse than it is now! 🙁
It is odd how sometimes Gingrich seems to be very reasonable and sane, but at other times, he is totally whacko in his statements and beliefs! His problem is that he is not believable that he has any strong convictions other than his own desire for power, influence, and constant media attention! 🙁
And in a time of fervent morality on the part of many Republicans, do they really want a person who, while condemning the sexual misbehavior of President Bill Clinton, was himself engaged in an extramarital affair behind the back of his second wife, and has been married now three times? Yes, people make mistakes and have moral lapses, but three wives, two divorces, and a reputation of a tone of corruption while he was Speaker? Is this a winning combination for a person who also presided over the loss of seats while Speaker, in 1996 and 1998?
The best advice that could be given to Newt Gingrich is to reconsider the idea of running, as he would not contribute one iota to the solution of our problems, and would instead simply create even more division and turmoil in a nation that does not need it at such a difficult time in our history! 🙁