Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Yesterday, I called your attention to how these early days of the 2012 presidential campaign are being used by potential candidates to road test rationales for the biggest black marks on their personal and professional records. Mitt Romney, for instance, attempted to explain away his Massachusetts health care plan in New Hampshire over the weekend and fell flat.
Today another entry comes courtesy of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (full disclosure: I used to write occasionally for the Speaker, though I no longer am in contact with him or his staff). The highest hurdle Gingrich faces in mounting a credible bid for the Oval Office is dealing with the instances of adultery connected to the dissolutions of his first and second marriages.
Leaving aside the question of whether such charges (which the Speaker admits to) are deal-breakers in and of themselves, I’m only interested in how persuasive Gingrich’s response is. You can judge for yourself based on this interview he did with the Christian Broadcasting Network during his trip to Iowa yesterday (sorry, no YouTube link yet).
Me: I think Gingrich scores much better than Romney on contrition. Taking the initiative to state that his past behavior was not a matter of “situational ethics”, but was simply “wrong”, demonstrates an honesty and courage that Romney’s response was missing (granted, Newt is dealing with much weightier matters). Also, his emphasis on forgiveness (grounded in a religious context) may cause his more generous critics to wonder if a man should be judged entirely on mistakes he made more than a decade ago (I’m well aware that for many of us the answer to that question is still ‘yes’).
There’s one bracing mistake in Newt’s response, however, and it’s one that he needs to iron out given how ubiquitous this question is going to become. Partially attributing adultery to “working too hard” and being so passionate about the country is a non sequitur – and a rather bizarre one at that.
Ask yourself this question: if a man defined by love of country and relentless hard work is elevated to one of the highest constitutional offices in the nation, would you expect him to be more or less likely to find time for extracurricular affairs? And if the answer was somehow the former, would you then want to elect him to one of the few higher offices in the republic?
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Sep '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I see some mea culpa but certainly no mea maxima culpa yet from New Gingrich.
May '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
My simple answer to the question is yes. I have never found a correlation between marital fidelity and effective leadership of state. History has no shortage of effective leaders who have "fooled around on the side."
While I agree that the Romney answer did not resonate well, it was substantially correct. I spent a week in Mass. this month and the only people I found critical of the health care system were two bright young doctors who worried about their economic future - but more in the context of Obamacare than Romneycare. As Mitch points out, if they don't like the economics in Mass. they can easily move. With the Obama system they are effectively trapped.
The federal system makes states laboratories and what works in one place may well not suit another. Romney is not responsible for the management of the system after he left and would undoubtedly have handled things differently than Deval. My mini survey however, turned up little dissatisfaction with the system as it stands.
Jun '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Troy Senik: Mitt Romney . . . attempted to explain away his Massachusetts health care plan in New Hampshire over the weekend and fell flat.
. . . .
Today another entry comes courtesy of . . . Newt Gingrich . . . The highest hurdle Gingrich faces in mounting a credible bid for the Oval Office is dealing with the instances of adultery connected to the dissolutions of his first and second marriages.
Troy: I agree that Romneycare is likely to be the death knell for Romney's effort to win the nomination.
I disagree that Gingrich's adultery is his most serious problem. I think he has another, far greater problem: he represents the Republican "old boy" network, a tired retread who will, if nominated, make John McCain and Bob Dole look like a fresh faces.
This is a country in crisis and we need some intellectual honesty. But what did we recently get from Gingrich: abject sucking up to Iowa farmers on ethanol. He represents the same old "do anything to get the nomination" that has killed the GOP in the past. His adultery is appalling--his ethanol position is simple intellectual dishonesty.
If he's the best we can do, heaven help us, because we'll need divine intervention.
Edited on Mar 8, 2011 at 9:21pmSep '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I am less concerned with Gingrich's mea culpas on adultery than I am about the ones that should be said about his embrace of anthroprogenic global warming. If it neither picks my pocket or causes me injury what is the problem? Global warming solutions end up doing one of those things to me as a citizen and therefore garner much more interest.
Jul '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I read what Gingrich writes and I like some of his ideas. Put him in a nice think tank and let him publish his interesting and provocative stuff, and find a grown up to run the country.
Jul '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Here's what I don't understand: John Edwards cheats on his cancer-stricken wife and every Republican is delighted that he has irrevocably destroyed his career.
Newt Gingrich cheats on his cancer-stricken wife and a substantial number of Republicans are happy to consider him for the Presidency.
Dec '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I think Newt has done all the right things in the past 6-7 years. There is no perfect candidate, as we all know (but for some reason feels necessary to reiterate in a discussion like this). I'm confident that among the current batch of potentials there is no one more equipped to match Obama word-for-word and idea-for-idea than Newt. I wish he had lived differently in the past. I wish I had made different moral choices in my life.
I was too young and too interested in Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen's prolific run in the mid-to-late 90's to fully appreciate all that went on in the Gingrich-led congress, but I'm craving someone who can "articulate, baby, articulate" in 2012. That may not be Newt. His past may indeed be too weighty.
In the OT, David was forgiven of the sins he committed surrounding his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, but nothing was ever again easy for David or his family. My fellow members of the "Religious Right" and I may believe and forgive Newt, but actions have consequences, and Newt's might have cost him the presidency.
Dec '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I agree. I hope we can do better than either of these two. But, either would be better than Pres. Obama and I will "crawl over broken glass" to vote for them. We cannot afford righteous indignation any more than 4 more years of Obama.
Jun '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
If Newt becomes the Republican nominee, first I'll cry over the complete lack of imagination of Republican voters, and then I'll vote for the Republican nominee.
Nov '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I don’t care that Newt cheated on wives from whom he is now divorced. And I think the picture you posted of him is really good. But I’d never vote for him for president because he’s feckless in standing up to the left. He’ll try to reason with them and they’ll neuter him in the blink of an eye before he knows what hit him. Conservatism would die a slow death with Newt as president. He’s all policy and no principle.
If Newt’s the nominee I’ll have to go back to writing in Pink Floyd as I did in the 70’s.
Edited on Mar 8, 2011 at 10:24pmDec '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Do you know what was missing from that interview clip?
He speaks of how he has asked God's forgiveness, but he doesn't say whether he's ever asked his wives' forgiveness. Repentance requires making amends to the people harmed by one's sins.
He speaks of how he's had the opportunity to lead a great life. What of his ex-wives? What has he done to see to it that they've had the same opportunity? (A cynic might say that he did the best thing he could possibly have done: he removed himself from their lives.)
He says he and Callista have a great marriage. Based on his past form, he's reaching the time frame at which he makes his marital trade-ins -- which he claims only get triggered by spasms of overwork in high-pressure jobs driven by how much he loves this country. (His assertion that his betrayal of his wives -- plural -- was tied to his patriotism makes me a little queasy.)
As others have pointed out, Gingrich has several policy shortcomings (especially around AGW and ethanol) that make him unpalatable. He's prone to creating self-serving rationalizations for those, too.
Nov '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Newt's a buttoned-down, tighter-wrapped, policy-wonk version of Charlie Sheen. And he wants to be president.
Aug '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
Troy Senik: The highest hurdle Gingrich faces in mounting a credible bid for the Oval Office is dealing with the instances of adultery connected to the dissolutions of his first and second marriages.
Uh, no. The highest hurdle Newt faces is the pro Anthropogenic Global Warming - sitting with Nancy P. on the couch - 'all of the above' energy policy.
Ethanol (one of the components of that 'all of the above' policy Newt favors) is the single largest driver in the ongoing spike in global food prices. Link Here. The money line: "So, yes, food crops have decreased due to global warming; viz., the hysteria over it has diverted food away from the mouths of the poor into the gas tanks of the well-to-do in order that they may feel really good about their moral superiority."
I don't want a policy wonk as president. That said, I am in complete agreement with Instapundit, "I would vote for a syphilitic camel over Barack Obama in 2012, so therefore I would even vote for Huckabee or Gingrich."
Oct '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
We are being screwed by Obama right now, and we want an adulterer to replace him? As for finding time, Bill Clinton and JFK certainly found the time. I think we have to go back to Harding to find an out and out philanderer in the GOP. Besides, anyone who can whore himself to Nancy Pelosi on global warming has absolutely no business expecting consideration for the presidency.
Jan '11
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I'm one of those people that desperately wants the statesmanship of Gingrich in the White House. Here's the problem that I'm stuck with. The cheating that he did was wrong and it hurt this party which ultimately hurt this nation. Forgiveness is quite beside the point. I could certainly move past what he did if I felt that he had corrected his personality flaw. I'll be the first person to cheer him on when I see that he's matured in that respect. I'm just not buying it.
Aug '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
As noted above by others, adultery is not Newt's biggest problem, by a long shot. It's not even something I think about. For instance, his coziness with Pelosi on climate change are as much of a negative for me as RomneyCare.
Smart guy, I respect him, but his time has passed and he should stay out of the way in 2012. IMHO, of course.
Jul '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I'd like Newt to explain how his "passion for the country" landed him on that sofa with Nancy where they talked about the urgent need to tackle global warming. He's slick and smooth -- not as slick and smooth as Bill Clinton, alas -- and is as loquacious as Hubert Humphrey. Hubert talked too much and so does Newt. Richard Nixon proved that the political dead can rise from the grave and walk again, but I hope Gingrich doesn't pull that off. I'd hold my nose and vote for him (I think) over the Transformer if that was the choice, but he doesn't stir the enthusiasm it will take to beat Obama and his $1 billion war chest and locked-in constituencies.
Nov '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
On second thought, maybe Newt is the Jessie Jackson of the Republican party: cynically threatening a spoiler candidacy for the sake of the leverage it gives him.
Sep '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
I'm not interested in this little ego trip by Gingrich, adultery or not. For several years, Newt remained out of the news, irrelevant. Now all of a sudden he believes that only he has the wisdom necessary to bring this nation back to its roots. Sorry, I'm not buying.
As a party, we need to make it very clear that legislators need not apply. We need Leaders.
Oct '10
Re: Road to the White House, Mea Culpa Watch: Gingrich Edition
There are many things to admire in N.G., but now is not the time for aging men loaded with baggage. We need young men, traveling light and fast.
Ryan, Rubio, Jindal, Cantor, etc.