The Right Tone
Tony Petersen

Will the Republican Party be dumb enough to nominate Newt Gingrich?

This is what GOP elites must be asking themselves. For if Newt were to be the nominee, Barack Obama would surely receive a second term.

Newton Leroy Gingrich is no conservative. And he’s the least electable frontrunner in modern politics.

The reasons to vote against Newt are legion.

Newt is not a conservative, neither by the issues nor by temperament. He opposed conservative Barry Goldwater for the GOP nomination in 1964, favoring instead the last bastion of liberal Republicans on the national scene, Nelson Rockefeller. He was forced out of his position as Speaker of the House by his own party. He was for cap-and-trade, declaring his support for legislation proposing it on the same couch as Nancy Pelosi, before he was against it.

He was for the individual mandate for health insurance before he was against it. He decried Paul Ryan’s efforts to rein in government debt as “right-wing social engineering.” He previewed President Obama’s campaign strategy in South Carolina by excoriating Mitt Romney’s career in the private sector. This list could go on ad nauseum.

All of this is even before we get into his marital infidelities, which will hurt him far worse in the general election than it has thus far in the Republican primary.

Gingrich also has the ignominious distinction of having never been popular: his national favorability ratings routinely sit in the low 20s.

Gingrich’s strength thus far, and one of the main reasons for his meteoric rise, has been the numerous debates that he has excelled in, in large part due to his apparent campaign strategy of excoriating the media every chance he gets. This works because the conservative base feels like the mainstream media are overwhelmingly liberal. The vast American electorate does not have the same misgivings as the GOP base does.

Once Newt is able to get his much-sought-after debate opportunity with Obama, his weaknesses ”” arrogance and grandiosity ”” will hurt him far more than his grasp of the issues will help him.

In short, a vote for Newt Gingrich in the Republican Primary is a vote for Barack Obama in the general election.

Faithful readers of this column know that I am a rabid supporter of Ron Paul. Dr. Paul’s policy prescriptions on issues from foreign policy to debt reduction seem to be exactly what this country needs at such a dire moment.

Rick Santorum’s focus on social issues and economic populism could give him an advantage to take back those Reagan Democrats that Republicans lost in 2008.

Mitt Romney’s experience in the economy gives him a unique perspective in helping to end the economic crisis the country currently finds itself in. He is also the Republican Party’s best chance at defeating Obama.

All of these candidates are better than Newt Gingrich. All stand a better chance at defeating the incumbent president. And all would be better in the office of the presidency than the former Speaker of the House.

Tony Petersen is the opinion editor of The Collegian. Follow him on Twitter @tonypetersen4.