Not Newt

When I brought up the idea of writing about Newt Gingrich for this issue of the paper at our last meeting, a colleague of mine volunteered that she knew two people who had interned for him this past spring semester. Upon hearing this, my first and only response was, "Are they okay?"

While this anecdote garnered a good laugh from the rest of the opinion section, this story illustrates the biggest obstacle that Gingrich faces in gaining the Republic nomination. He is what Jon Stewart has tactfully dubbed "likeability challenged."

It seems that every time I need to write a new column, there is a new GOP frontrunner. In the great Republican quest to have a nominee who is not Mitt Romney, they have been through Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and now Gingrich all in the span of about three months.

            The difference between Gingrich and the past frontrunners is that he actually has qualifications outside of being "not Mitt Romney." Yes, against all odds, the Republican Party may have found a candidate that is qualified to be both President and not like Mitt Romney.

            Gingrich's resume is certainly impressive: a stint as speaker of the House in the ‘90's and nearly two decades as a well-known Republican player. However, what some of the younger readers might not remember is that Gingrich was ousted by his own party for his antics while speaker and was a major reason why Bill Clinton was re-elected in 1996.

           See, Gingrich may look good on paper, but he leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many voters who remember him from the Clinton administration. That reputation in itself would not be a problem in getting the nomination if it weren't for the fact that a good portion of those people are also Republicans.

         For those of us who were learning to read during the Clinton administration and thus were not really paying attention to politics, here is a brief recap of Gingrich's time in the spotlight.  After winning back the House of Representatives from the Democrats in 1994, he proceeded on a campaign of terror against Bill Clinton and America in general.

        He almost financially shut down the government and brought impeachment charges against Bill Clinton for inappropriate relations with an intern. He was bringing those charges as speaker while he, himself, was having an extramarital affair. You can imagine how thrilled the American public and members of his party were when this news broke.

       Have I mentioned that he is currently on his third wife, has had two divorces and has cheated on both former wives? Besides attempting to shut down the federal government, Gingrich is most famous for serving one of those wives with divorce papers, while she was on her deathbed, sick with cancer.

     For some reason, social conservatives and family value advocates are not very fond of this man. For once, they are put on par with the rest of mainstream America. On principle, one should never judge a potential politician on his/her personality and only evaluate him/her on his/her qualifications as a leader.

      With Gingrich though, that is quite a challenging task. If the Republican Party truly wants him as a nominee, they'll have to face the fact that he probably will not win in a general election.

       Despite strong debate performances, it is unlikely Gingrich will get the nomination; even if he were to win, then Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, would be stuck listening to him for four years. I'm willing to bet that's a fate Republicans wouldn't even wish on Nancy Pelosi.