Gingrich = Selfish

I’m no fan of Newt Gingrich to begin with, but his antics in the wake of his drubbing last night in the southern primaries defy belief.

From the start, his Newtness asserted that he alone was the true conservative candidate, that he alone was able to stand up to President Obama in a general election—and that he alone was qualified to become our next President.

Please.

His boastful predictions of a “southern sweep” after his victory in Georgia (his home state) were not apparently shared by voters in Alabama and Mississippi. Rick Santorum, heavily outspent and out-organized by the Romney campaign nonetheless won both contests and is clearly the only one nipping at Mitt’s heels.

After seeing Newt on the campaign trail, his oversize ego and self-righteous attacks on both the President and his Republican rivals have revealed him to be not the patriot he claims. Instead, he is a selfish, self-centered egomaniac whose continued presence in the race confirms this truth.

It never was about America. To Newt, it is, was—and always has been--- all about Newt.

Were Gingrich to gracefully exit and endorse Santorum, it would finally be a horse race between two viable candidates. The delegate gap would narrow considerably. Moreover, voters who, while conservative have voted for Romney out of a sense of “let’s get it over with” inevitability would now have a choice they could confidently believe MIGHT actually turn out to be the nominee.

The math doesn’t favor Santorum, but it is virtually impossible for Newt. If he can’t win the South, he has no hope whatsoever—and he knows it. His rich Vegas financier---clearly endowed with more money than brains---can continue to pour money down the black hole that is Newt, but the House won’t win this bet.

From his entire senior staff quitting on him early in the race to the complete lack of organization of his “campaign” makes it clear that a vote for Newt is like one for Ron Paul—a “statement”, but one with no impact.

Here’s a man who attacks the President for dropping the ball on everything from Iran to the economy—and yet he couldn’t even muster the organization to get his own name on the ballot in his “other” home state of Virginia. If a campaign is truly a microcosm of an Administration, there’s already ample evidence that a Gingrich presidency would be a disaster.

Here’s an example. The rising price of gasoline has given ol’ Newt a political football to toss to the ignorant masses that believe he is smarter than everyone else in the room (which, of course Newt himself agrees with completely). He promises gasoline at $2.50 a gallon, with drilling as the cornerstone. Unfortunately, those in the know say that Mr. Gingrich is full of it.

Experts maintain that the price of gasoline is largely driven by oil speculators—and that these Wall Street traders are largely to blame. Speculation used to be a mechanism utilized by end users to mitigate volatility in the price of commodities. The ratio was about 80-20, with the larger percentage being end users. United Airlines, for instance, might be a speculator for jet fuel to hedge their bets against rising prices. The other twenty percent would be traders.

That percentage has flipped, with about 80 percent of speculators now the traders who make money off this volatility. It’s a profit center.

Of course, the Dodd-Frank legislation that would attempt to regulate this rampant profit-taking on as vital resource as oil is also the same legislation that Gingrich vows to repeal on Day One should he become President.

Alrighty then.

All of the Republicans are accusing the President of “not doing enough”, but tend to go mute when asked exactly what THEY would do. Because the price of oil is, after all, an example of the FREE MARKET AT WORK— anything a President could or would do would represent more “government intrusion” into our lives. No Republican wants to climb into that box.

The industry analysts assert that supply is quite high and demand is relatively low. In fact this year, we have exported more oil than we imported (for the first time in how many years?) So…….DRILLING is not the answer.

Deregulation is not the answer. It is, actually, part of the problem.

But don’t tell that to Newt, because he relies almost totally on what is euphemistically referred to as the “low information voter”.

As former Congressman Alan Grayson remarked: “Newt Gingrich is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person”

If Newt were really smart—and if he REALLY cared about this country, he would get out. To him, the only thing worse than seeing Santorum win the nomination is seeing Romney grab it. Gingrich could go a long way toward insuring that Romney is denied by making his exit.

Maybe he can make a secret deal with Santorum for V.P.

If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@cumulus.com