The skepticism comes with good reason. Newt Gingrich is somebody who in the past has put his own character in question through his own actions. Extra-marital affairs, bouncing government checks in the early 90's and becoming the first sitting House Speaker to be censured and fined by the House Ethics Committee in the late 90's to name a few.
Many have problems that are strictly political with Gingrich and that is why they will not vote for him to be their GOP candidate for the general election. That's fine, but it isn't what I'm here to discuss. Many GOP voters (some of whom may agree with the vast majority of his political stances) that are questioning whether they'd like to vote for him have a very big hurdle to clear to get to the point where they are sure Newt is their "guy." That hurdle? Trust.
Shortly after his announcement, Mr. Gingrich went to work entrenching himself in controversy once again in a blistering criticism of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) proposed budget bill on NBC's "Meet the Press," likening it to "right-wing social engineering" and "imposing radical change." It seemed that such a gaffe would end his campaign as soon as it began as many partial supporters departed and skepticism continued to rise. Newt continued to press forward despite his damning comments, apologized to Ryan and said on Fox News Sunday that if he was quoted in a future campaign ad with that comment, it would be a misquote.
More questions about Newt's campaign were raised last week when his entire senior staff resigned, citing Newt's lack of dedication to the campaign as evidenced by a 2 week cruise he had recently took compounded by the lack of campaign stops he had been making (Not to mention the distraction of a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany's). Even after this, Newt again continued to press forward with the CNN debate looming.
Newt had an opportunity to engage in some serious damage control as the timing of the debate would allow him to immediately dispel any questions about his campaign and attempt to stick to the issues. He actually came out of the debate looking the strongest he has since announcing his campaign. Newt appeared confident, experienced and regal on Monday night which does not erase all of the previously mentioned concerns, but diverted attention away from them... at least temporarily.
The very next day ABC News released a report about a non-profit founded by Gingrich, Renewing American Leadership (ReAL), having paid Gingrich's for profit organizations nearly $220,000 over the past two years. ReAL had bought Gingrich's books and DVDs from his communications and production firms. There is also concern that Gingrich has free, open access to the ReAL donor list, which would be an abuse of the information as charities are not allowed to take part in political campaigns.
When ABC approached Gingrich about the issue at a June 14th campaign speech, he responded by saying, "I'm not concerned about that. The American people aren't concerned about that. Try covering the speech." Mr. Gingrich, sir, the American people ARE indeed concerned about that. Surely you know of your checkered past and how it may cause concern for those whose votes you are trying to win. The voters want to know the character of their candidates and right now, it appears that yours is far less than that of a man fit to hold the office of the President.
The fact of the matter is, Newt Gingrich entered the 2012 presidential race surrounded by skepticism and trust issues and has done nothing to tame those concerns. Instead he has only fueled the fire, continuing his campaign through PR nightmare after PR nightmare. When it comes down to the voters' decision in the GOP primary, he has only himself and a mirror to look at when he eventually loses the primary or drops out before the vote even takes place.
-Streep
No comments:
Post a Comment