politics

The Gingrich factor: The man needs discipline

South Carolina picks presidents. I find it annoying seeing traditional news sources talking about the inevitability of a Romney nomination. “Mitt is it” news.yahoo.com comes to mind.

Gingrich is within the margin of error in most polls and can win. But the clear question is should he win. Does he have what it takes to have a finger on the nuclear trigger.

There are two Gingrich’s and I’m wondering which one will show up when I visit the web for news.

The first Gingrich, the presidential one is the one that pulled himself to prominence in the debates. He was articulate, knowledgeable and showed he can take on President Obama. This Gingrich at the speakers rostrum in New Hampshire cooked up a plan to help veterans who have had to go from Northern New Hampshire to Boston for medical care. This is a man I could see as president.

The second Gingrich is not presidential. He whines about what Romney did to him. Negative ads. I would suggest that Gingrich do the same thing Romney did. Speak positively about his vision for the country. Contrast himself with Barak Obama, and let the Super PAC’s do the mud slinging.

Yes, Romney’s record at Bain Capital is a legitimate issue in the election. But Whining at the speakers rostrum and being an attack dog is not how Romney took down Gingrich.

The Gingrich campaign is sharp. A poll showed up showing Gingrich within the margin of error and his staff immediately posted an article to their campaign site that shows up in google if you search for South Carolina poll results. This is a 21st century, Internet age campaign and it could lead to a 21st century, Internet era presidency.

At this point, I’m still voting for Barak Obama. Full disclosure here.

However Gingrich has time to win my vote and the nomination, though not much. He needs to show discipline, stop attacking Romney in campaign appearances and let the dirty work be done by his allied Super PAC advertising. Can he? I certainly hope so. Wouldn’t it be great to have two candidates in the general election who are qualified, dignified and worthy of our votes intellectually? I think so.

The Republican establishment has gone on the attack. They say that Gingrich is doing Obama’s work by attacking Romney’s record at Bain Capital. Not true. It is also not attacking capitalism. Venture Capitalism is a good thing.

Vulture Capitalism throws people out of work and sucks money out of the economy in a way that should be opposed by all free thinking people, liberal or conservative. Was Romney a vulture capitalist? Maybe. Let’s see the facts and have an informed debate on this topic.

Shmuel Protter