Should a Politician Be Angry?

by Colonel Bob Pappas, USMC, Retired

I will vote for whoever the Republican nominee will be. That noted, I support and advocate for “New” Gingrich! Please take the time to watch the video at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLweKX3BkNM .

If it’s a moderate that Republicans want, it looks like Romney would be the choice. After all, Romney’s 25% seems to be directly in line with that proportion that Gallup shows among registered Republicans who regard themselves “moderate.” It is amusing that Fox likes to paint Romney as the one to beat i.e. the non-Romney candidate. It isn’t as amusing that the only way Romney can maintain 25% is through negative advertising. One should be careful when living in a glass house, a well known line that applies to virtually every one of the candidates.  The New Hampshire results mean the following to me: Most Republicans in New Hampshire are moderate or liberal, that would be Romney and Huntsman. The next largest group as evidenced by Dr. Paul’s, Gingrich’s, and Santorum’s combined showing are conservative.  The winner is not representative of the majority of Republicans, but the media is doing its best to portray him that way.

One wonders why the conservative majority in the GOP would rather vote a “moderate” than any one of at least three more conservative candidates. Would it be because the openly secret strategy is to split the vote among conservatives so that the effect is to elect a moderate? Divide and conquer. Its worked in the past and is on track at the moment to do it again-- will conservatives be duped yet again?

The problem with being moderate is somewhat akin to not being able to differentiate truth and spin, or to put in well known Biblical terms, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”  And, this last is what the American public will do to the Republican Party again unless a genuine conservative is nominated. In a conversation around the coffee table after church last Sunday, one person said, “I would vote for Lucifer before I’d vote for Obama.” Although shocking, it is representative the strength of attitude against Obama in some quarters. The GOP needs to harness that opposition and ride it to victory.  And the best way to do that is to nominate a conservative not a candidate whose only chance to rise above 25% is for the field to narrow to the point where math begins to take over. The problem that confronts the GOP is how many will sit out the election given another “moderate?”

Therefore, my conservative readers, the choice is to allow the Party to be lead by a “moderate” and lose again, or someone with indisputable conservative credentials and win in a landslide. That, of course, is where the real “primary” debate in the Republican Party lies. The problem on the conservative side of the equation is that Paul is unelectable and has said as much; Santorum is a weak candidate who would not have risen in the polls as the conservative alternative had not Romney (the moderate) and Paul (the libertarian) launched attack ads against Gingrich during the run-up to the Iowa Caucus. Despite that loss Gingrich continues because he has the strongest message, the most experience and is best equipped to lead the country out of the mess created by those moderates who chose to vote their ‘white-guilt” complex or to “be part of history.”

When the question is raised: “What is it you oppose about Gingrich?”  The answer turns on two points: first, his personal life and two, his personality.  I for one, forgive him his personal life just as Jesus forgave the thief who was crucified with him, “today you will be with me in paradise.” From one who has known Newt personally in the past, I’m informed that he was arrogant, among other things. At this point conservatives should not be focused on whether or not a candidate has a particularly likeable personality unless this is a high school contest.  Rather, conservatives who are a majority in this country should be focused on who is strongest and that would be Newt Gingrich!  

Why does the Obama campaign focus on Romney? It’s the classic basketball head-fake. They want voters to believe Romney will be the Republican nominee because they know Obama would be crushed by true conservative Gingrich.

Semper Fidelis


Copyright ©  January 9th, 2012, by Robert L. Pappas. With proper attribution, this essay may be quoted and redistributed, except it may not be used in conjunction with any advertisement without the author’s expressed written permission.