Gingrich Falters Against Romney

Recently I wrote an article decrying the smear TV ad campaign raging against Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich by shadow groups supporting Mitt Romney. The ads went out of their way to claim that they weren't affiliated with any specific candidate. No, they just happened to come out when Gingrich was riding high in the polls against the only other serious contender. However, I didn't hear any of the other candidates crying foul about the mud being anonymous slung at him and at great expense. But when the former Georgia representative and House Speaker began to run his own anti-Romney ads, it seemed that most of the Republican Party establishment as well as media blabbermouths like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham vociferously chastised him for this. Gingrich's popularity in the polls plummeted, leaving only theocratic extremist Rick Santorum as the only real challenger left to Romney. And what do you know: now we are seeing stealth ads attacking him as well, of course again without mentioning Mitt Romney as their source.

No fan of Newt Gingrich, I nevertheless feel that I can listen to the guy and at least believe that he is telling me what he is thinking, as slanted and opposed to my values and priorities those opinions may sometimes be. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is a chameleon who sizes up whatever situation he is in and simply delivers what he thinks his audience wants to hear. Can anyone truly say what kind of president he would be if elected? At least, with Gingrich, you have a reasonable idea of what you are going to get.

In the final analysis, I believe Newt Gingrich’s biggest mistake was to direct his ad campaign against Romney based on the latter’s cutthroat business management techniques, when he took over a large corporation and proceeded to make a killing by chopping up companies and laying off workers. By criticizing him for this, Gingrich ran afoul of the true Republican base agenda, which when all of the emotional hot-button issues like guns, Muslims, abortion, and gay rights are factored out, consists of promoting the interests of the rich and powerful. He should have known better, but at least I respect him for this more than I do Mitt Romney.