do agree our country must take action to address climate change,” replied Gingrich.
nd yet during an appearance on Fox News after his formal declaration of interest in the presidential race, Gingrich restated emphatically: “I would reverse Obama’s entire pattern of being anti-American energy. I would start by saying drill here. Drill now. Pay less.”
That’s vintage Newt! Never afraid to change his positions suddenly while insisting that he is still where he was. Only recently, he publicly opposed President Obama’s decision intervene in Libya, but before Americans could fully swallow that, Gingrich was out there again fully supporting it. Is he very impulsive, always eager to intervene before fully grasping the issues involved? How this casts him as a dependable commander-in-chief American’s would like to elect is what would certainly engage many Republicans in the days ahead.
Over the years, Gingrich’s intolerance of opposing views has become legendary, and this has made him a highly divisive character. There is also a strong feeling that he unduly personalized his very bitter opposition to Clinton, and anyone that reads Hillary Clinton’s book, , will wonder whether Gingrich is capable of the slightest hint of the mercy he said recently he had sought from God for his ugly personal history.
A popular incident in the Clinton-Gingrich saga comes to mind. After the American delegation returned from the November 6, 1995, burial of Yitzhak Rabin, Newt Gingrich complained that Clinton had snubbed him on Air Force One during the long flight back from Jerusalem. He also did not like the fact that he had to “get off the plane by the back ramp,” with some other guests at Andrews Air Force Base. “You wonder where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?” he queried during a breakfast meeting with reporters on November 15, 1995. This was the time a showdown over issues on the budget between the presidency and the Gingrich-led House had led to a government shutdown. Now Gingrich was probably showing that his grievances went beyond the issues of disagreement over the budget, prompting the to publish the next day a cartoon of him in diapers as “Cry-Cry-Baby.” But the White House, however, put a lie to Gingrich’s claims by releasing a picture of himself, Clinton and Bob Dole sitting in a conference room on Air Force One and seriously engaged in a deliberation. Newt had misfired again.
As Gingrich seeks to become America’s president, he should expect his views to be defeated by superior ones, and discourage his personal character traits from always interfering in his handling of public issues. His ability to convince the Republicans that he is able to do this will largely determine the outcome of his run. He needs to work hard to improve his acceptability, even though, there seems to be a growing impression that with his entry into the race, the GOPs seem to have been faced with a fait accompli. Their choices are limited. Some commentators are already saying: Gingrich may not be the best the Republicans can offer for now, but if not him, then who?
Again, given his decision to give his wife a central role in his campaign as a character witness to his new image as a good family man and one who has lately “found” God, it must occur to him that Americans are also eager to hear his wife’s side of the story of his moral problems in which she played a prominent role, if she hopes to be a credible witness and eventually the first lady. Indeed, her continued refusal to speak on those issues might severely discredit her testimonies, hurt her husband’s ambition and inspire serious doubts about the genuineness of the “New Gingrich” they are seeking to sell to Americans.
And given the image he came away with after his epic political battle with Clinton, Gingrich must hasten to demonstrate convincingly that he is not merely some dry-as-dust, take-no-prisoner politician, ready to devour and swallow. He should not forget in a hurry that it was the disenchantment of Americans over the vicious nature of his very bitter opposition against Clinton that led to his downfall a decade ago, and severely polarized the conservatives.
And given that he has not won any election outside his district in Georgia (not even a state-wide vote), he should not underestimate the current challenge but hasten to realize that his bid for the presidency would surely require a more mature approach, greater respect and accommodation of others and their views, extra humility and plainness.
