Until recently the idea of me supporting someone other than Governor Palin for President in 2012 was unthinkable. Ever since the 2008 election I spent most of my day defending and correcting Governor Palin’s record in preparation of her running for president. I set up, maintained and financed multiple Palin support sites including PalinTV, Conservatives4Palin, Organize4Palin, Palin4Ameirca. With some websites, it was public knowledge that I was operating them; with others, to this day only a handful of people are aware that I was behind them. I spent the better part of three years and thousands of dollars hoping for a President Palin in 2012.
Like the majority of Palin supporters, I believed only Sarah Palin was qualified to be president and only Sarah Palin could beat Obama. I believed that the other candidates were totally useless and had no chance in beating the president. Sarah Palin was flawless and the other candidates had nothing but flaws. If Palin runs, everything will be perfect; if she doesn’t, we’re screwed.
Then everything changed: on October 5th, Governor Palin announced she isn’t running. To be honest, I saw it coming. I was prepared for the possibility and even did my best to try to prepare others for the scenario. When Palin announced she wasn’t running, some people took the “we’re screwed” attitude. However, I decided to rip off the band aid, move on and for the sake of my kids not let the world get screwed.
My support for Governor Palin wasn’t just because she is a pretty face. I supported her because I believed in what she stood for; I abide by her principles and I believed that Governor Palin could lead America and the world to a better and brighter future. When I support a candidate for office, it’s not so much that I stand with them; I support candidates that stand with me. I don’t adjust my principles to what the candidates’ principles are, I have my principles and I try to find the candidate that most matches my criteria. While I didn’t agree with Palin on everything, she came closest to the things I believe in. Now that she isn’t running I had to go and find a candidate that does. I had to go examine the records and capabilities of those in the field to see who comes closest to the things I stand for.
Many argue that the current Republican field is weak. It’s easy to sit in the comfort of your home or office and complain on twitter and facebook or blog about how everyone sucks. If you don’t like those who are in the race, or think you can do a better job, get out of your comfort zone and get into the race yourself or try to find a person you do think you can support and get them to enter the race. Whether you like the current candidates or not, at least they are doing something about it by putting themselves out there. Like it or not, this is the deck we’ve been dealt; we ought to deal with it like adults. Sitting around and sulking won’t get anyone anywhere.
In every election cycle, members of the particular party always complain about how weak the field is. This always happens. It happened in 2008, it happened in 2004, in 2000 and it even happened in the 1980 cycle when Ronald Reagan was in the field. I’m pretty sure that if you go back in history you will find that people complained about every single race beginning with George Washington. Eventually a candidate always emerges that we feel we can all get behind and when we are successful in electing them, they all turn out to be pretty good in one way or another. We don’t always agree with them on everything but when we look back, more often than not we’re quite comfortable with our selection.
Governor Palin can say she doesn’t need a title to make a difference, and that may be true with her. But someone does need to have the title, we need a president, and I for one don’t want Obama to get re-elected. Each of the candidates in the race have their pros and cons. There are many things on which I agree with every one of them and there are many things on which I disagree with every one of them. And while there are those that I can’t see myself supporting, they all have one thing in common: they are all patriots. I believe they all want what’s best for the country and I would pick any one of them over the current occupant of the oval office. However, I still would rather get the candidate that mostly meets my criteria, and for me that person is Newt Gingrich.
Newt Gingrich is a man of ideas, is smart, has solutions, knows how the world works, and has leadership qualities. No one can argue that Gingrich is not qualified to be president. I can see Gingrich in the situation room making tough decisions without needing 16 hours to adjust or calculate how it will affect him politically. A President Gingrich would be feared by dictators and respected by our allies.
Sure, Gingrich may be old school but sometimes it is old school that we need. In today’s climate where the world is falling apart in front of our eyes, we need ourselves some old school, someone that knows how the system works and how the game is played. This is not a cycle where we can afford to focus on style or on making history or proving a point. There is too much going on in the world to worry about what someone did in their personal life over a decade ago, especially when the true facts are sketchy at best. In this election cycle, people won’t care about the drama; people will care about the issues and if Gingrich ever has a shot at winning, it is this cycle. With the current deck we’ve been dealt, Gingrich is the ace in the pack.
Newt Gingrich may not be the perfect man, but no one is. There is no perfect person in the world; heck Palin isn’t perfect either. A President Gingrich might and probably will screw up more than once, and so will any other president (yes, including a president Palin). The objective is to weigh and measure out of all the candidates which kind of screw ups you are willing to accept and out of all the candidates in the field, I would rather risk Gingrich’s potential screw ups than anyone else’s. In addition, when weighing the pros and cons, Gingrich’s pros outnumber his cons by far.
Palin supporters claim, and I’ll confess that until recently I was in that camp too, that Palin is the only one that could beat Obama. But we seem to forget that supporters of other candidates say the same about their candidate. Most supporters of other candidates believe that Palin would be the least electable just as we think that they are un-electable. It’s an argument we will never be able to prove right or wrong.
People tell me that Newt is un-electable, or that he doesn’t have the money to pull it off. Just wait for when he gets up to debate Obama, it wont be Newt who is un-electable. But that aside, if you think he’s un-electable, make him electable, work for him, volunteer for him, go out and get people to vote for him. You’ll see how electable he his. By most estimates and polls, Palin is un-electable too but yet people were willing to give it their all to make her electable. If we could do it for Palin, we can do it for Gingrich. And if you think he doesn’t have the money, donate to his campaign, help him get his message out and when people hear it, they will be willing to donate. If he gains momentum, the money will start pouring in. In other words, if you think you can accept Gingrich for President, quit the whining and get working.
Some supporters of those not in the race say that they will still vote for their preferred candidate as a write in. Cute, very cute, but what good would that do? Anyone of the current candidates in the field would do a better job than Obama but by writing in a candidate that is not even in the race, all they are doing is just cutting of their nose to spite their face by handing the election to Obama or Obama light. Is that what they really want?
Whether I go all in for Gingrich the same way I went in for Palin is something I still need to consider. It comes down to me being convinced that he is really in it to win it and that he’ll give it his all. For now, I’m still of the mindset that he’s just in it to be part of the debate. I hope he’ll convince me that am wrong. But until then, I’ll do my part to make sure that when I wake up on November 7th 2012, Newt Gingrich is our new elected president and when that happens, I for one will feel secure, will breathe a sigh of relief, and will be truly hopeful that America will rise again and a brighter future awaits the world.
Your post mirrors my process. There are a lot of parallels between Newt and Sarah, not just the way the media and elites have treated them but their ideas and belief in America’s history and future.
Here is and interesting audio I just listened to;
Radio interview with Stephen K BannonVideo: Newt Gingrich on Victory Sessions http://bit.ly/obGdiGor http://barbaricthoughts.com/2011/10/video-newt-gingrich-on-victory-sessions/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
I think I may already know the answer to this, but just want to be sure; why not Cain?
Have you read any of Newt’s books? I recently took advantage of Amazon’s “Read the first chapter free” feature and read the first chapters of four of Newt’s books: “A Nation Like No Other,” “To Save America,” “Real Change” and “Winning the Future.” Every single one BLEW ME AWAY — I will be buying all of them! Newt is AMAZING. If you doubt his passion to save this country, just do what I did and read at least the intros to these books.
And even if you don’t do that, for goodness sake get to newt.org and click on his 21st Century Contract with America, and read THAT. He is a man with a plan! Until finding out more about Newt, I had backed a string of one GOP candidate after another this year — but always kind of half-heartedly. All of the ones running paled next to Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan and Allen West, who are not in the race. But now I can say that Newt is the first actually-running candidate whom I am supporting WHOLE-heartedly!
Another key similarity between Newt and Sarah: Newt realizes that the real enemy is not just the Dem party but what Andrew Breitbart calls the Democrat-Media Complex. Like Sarah, Newt knows that Big Media are just the communications arm of the Democrat Party. Newt is very wisely and cleverly running against the Media. On this, as on so many things, Newt “GETS IT.”
Well said!
It’s tough to go against Cain because he is likable, solid grassroots conservative, etc. However I think we have to be realistic here. Business experience does not equal governing experience, and to my knowledge Cain has never been elected to so much as a school board or a city council. And I don’t think his time at the Fed counts in his favor either, especially with his support of Greenspan. There is a reason that it is very rare for someone who has not been a governor or senator to be elected president, and then they are usually a congressman. Yes, Gingrich was just a congressman, but being speaker he was 3rd in line for the presidency and has gained good leadership experience in government. I just don’t think Cain will hold up over the long run, or against Obama if he were to manage to pull out the nomination.
Glad to have you supporting Newt! In case you haven’t seen it yet, Newt has started campaigning on forcing Barack Obama into seven, 3-hour Lincoln/Douglas type debates with no moderator…. only a timekeeper! Everyone says Obama will not accept, but Newt (like Lincoln did to Douglas) vows to follow Obama around the country as he campaigns, and stop at every place Obama stops, dissecting his speeches and policies…. and hounding him until he accepts the debates. How awesome is that?! No other candidate has the courage (or knowledge & debating skills) to attempt such a thing. Also….. don’t fall for the “Newt isn’t serious about winning” garbage. That is pure media speculation, and flat out not true. Now…. if you could only convince Sarah to endorse Newt, that would be a game changer!
I commend you for your belief in your position. Clearly, you had a monumental buy-in to our preferred candidate, Gov. Palin. Having followed C4P from its inception (within days) I had inclinations of your major role. My only hesitation throughout was the Fiorina pick over DeVore, who is a brilliant debater and foreign policy expert. He could have fried Boxer. But alas, being shunned, he is now an avid Perry supporter. I eventually got over it, knowing that Sarah WAS/IS the only one truly driven with a “servant’s heart.” She IS human and “almost” perfect.
I, too, have been stymied by the GOP field. There is no question that Newt is ALWAYS the smartest person in the room. He is a conservative in his instincts. But many a time I have compared him to Machiavelli. Old Niccolo was also the smartest person in the room. I have studied him. The problem was that his only compass pointed to power. He could rationalize anything to be “good” in the eyes of the masses to secretly amplify the power of those he worked for. And so, I find traits in Newt’s “mistakes” as indicators that he, too, has a compass toward power. His perceptions told him that the power was flowing toward the global warming crowd so he couched with Pelosi. His perceptions of party power overrode good sense in his endorsement of Scozzafava. He has apologized and that is good. But the power thing is built-in. It is part of him.
That said, he is still the most forceful, smart and eloquent thing on the GOP debate stage. My own instincts tell me he could be a great president IF the Tea Party had some leverage to keep his compass working FOR us. Anyone living long like I have who has dealt with many difficult contractual and national/international issues knows that no expected end can be achieved without leverage on all the parties. Gingrich loves us now and seemingly loves Sarah, too. That’s grand. But how, as president, do we keep him on that ethical, character-driven path? I would support Newt if we had this ability; this leverage. I ask you to set your fine mind to this leverage issue.
I am less sanguine than you about past presidents with warts being found generally acceptable. It is the “anyone but” attitude that has given us the “least offensive” choice options in the past. The ABO thrust IS a tactic of the establishment GOP to get us all to accept, once again, the lesser of evils. I am tired of accepting that. My truest patriotism cries out for a “servant’s heart.” If Newt is the best we can get, while Gov. Palin works to restore the Congress, then we need leverage! Then I can happily watch Gingrich turn Obama into a mumbling blob on the debate floor.I’ll send Josh a similar message. We’ll need both your great minds to help us forward.
Thank you so much Sheya for this post and endorsing Mr. Newt Gingrich. I am with you. Like many Palin supporters, I was so devastated when she decided she was not running, but I just had to dust off my shoulders and move on. Newt Gingrich is my next choice.
If Mr. Gingrich is the ace in the deck, Mr. Cain is the joker. In some games, the joker actually trumps all of the other cards, so that could happen. Aces in most card games are usually very to most important and are thought of as the “top card.”
I like Mr. Cain and no one would like it more than me if a real common sense American could be elected and I hope and pray that at sometime our country will get off of the track of professional politicians and back to the citizen legislators and representatives idea upon which this country was founded.
Finally, every tragedy to be successful requires a moment or two of “comic relief.” Every comedy requires “tragic relief.” With, according to the master, William Shakespeare, all of the world being a stage and Mr. Cain now on that stage, I think he is offering some of the former for the media and all of us. Not that I do not believe his executive experience would be very helpful, but IMNSHO the ace, in this case Mr. Gingrich knows “this game” better than does Mr. Cain.
I am really anticipating the Lincoln / Douglas style debate between the two men.
OH! Mr. Gingrich is not humorless, remember he is Irish. 😉
GB
Your such a fucking sheep. Palin says jump.
http://tinyurl.com/c8b8a7y