Daniel J. Harrison

Before I respond to Tony Petersen’s recent column, I have a couple disclaimers: 1) I am a volunteer statewide leader in the Gingrich campaign; 2) Tony Petersen is an honorable man with whom I hold much respect. That being said, I completely disagree with his assessment of Newt Gingrich, and I firmly believe that Newt would be the strongest candidate to face and defeat Barack Obama.

First, Newt Gingrich is a conservative. The only time in any of our lifetimes that the federal budget has been balanced was under the leadership of Newt Gingrich. Paul Ryan’s budget is a good plan, but it still does not produce a balanced budget for close to ten years. We need a balanced budget now, and every year Newt was the Speaker of the House, including year one, we had a balanced budget. The other remaining candidates can talk the talk, but only Newt Gingrich has walked the walk.

Newt Gingrich did do a public-service announcement regarding cleaning up the environment. Newt did this not because he believes in the hoax of global warming, but rather because of the moral obligation to take care of the environment so the next generation can enjoy its beauty. If anyone is for cap-and-trade, it is not Newt Gingrich. Newt testified in front of Congress against cap-and-trade the same day that Al Gore testified in favor of it.

Newt Gingrich was forced out of office because members of Congress have always been neck-deep in corruption and he was fighting to end their corruption. He balanced the budget all four years that he was the Speaker, reining in his colleagues from their out-of-control spending instinct. He called out members of Congress for unlawful acts and had them removed.

I know all of you reading this are screaming about Newt’s infidelities, but the difference is Newt never broke the law. Newt is in favor of the balanced-budget amendment, and supports a constitutional amendment establishing congressional term limits. The fact that members of Congress forced him out of his job as Speaker because he was limiting their power is just another positive reason to vote for Newt.

Yes, Newt was involved in marital infidelities ”” he does not deny this ”” but if it becomes an issue, it will be during the primary, not the general election. Conservatives, not liberals, care about personal issues like infidelity, yet conservatives in South Carolina still voted for him, despite the allegations from his ex-wife. After leaving Congress, Newt spent over a decade as a private citizen, in which he recommitted himself to Christ, spent years reconciling his mistakes and believes Christ has forgiven him. If you are a person of faith, who are you to judge a man who says he has sought after God’s forgiveness?

Barack Obama is going to lose in 2012 regardless of whom the Republican nominee is. Head-to-head polls have always been misleading and should be ignored. If head-to-head polls were true, Howard Dean would have defeated George W Bush in 2004, George H.W. Bush would have defeated Bill Clinton in 1992 and Jimmy Carter would have defeated Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Mitt Romney has been one of this country’s most successful businessmen. Rick Santorum has been a national leader with one of the strongest convictions ever seen in politics. Ron Paul is perhaps one of the wisest men in national politics on fiscal issues.

But Newt Gingrich is the only candidate with national leadership on all issues. Newt Gingrich was a key player in the 16 million job turnaround in the 1980s and the 11 million job turnaround in the 1990s. Newt Gingrich has done more than enough to prove that he has what it takes to be a successful president of the United States and to do so in a conservative, common sense manner.

Daniel J. Harrison is a Fresno State student and Statewide Co-Chair of California Colleges with Newt. Follow him on Twitter @GOPDaniel.