Newt and the Election - Character Matters

While I do not subscribe to the virtuous candidate rhetoric as much as some of my counterparts, Newt is finding out the hard way why character makes a difference -

In her most provocative comments, the ex-Mrs. Gingrich said Newt sought an "open marriage" arrangement so he could have a mistress and a wife.

She said when Gingrich admitted to a six-year affair with a Congressional aide, he asked her if she would share him with the other woman, Callista, who is now married to Gingrich.

"And I just stared at him and he said, 'Callista doesn't care what I do,'" Marianne Gingrich told ABC News. "He wanted an open marriage and I refused."

Marianne described her "shock" at Gingrich's behavior, including how she says she learned he conducted his affair with Callista "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington."

"He always called me at night," she recalled, "and always ended with 'I love you.' Well, she was listening."

 The Real Effect
While I cannot speak to Mr. Gingrich's love for his wife at the time, the more critical component that we need to take note of is that he is a user. As others and I have been saying for decades, this is a man that has two sides, his public and his private. His outward projection of 'love' or 'patriotism' is subjugated primarily to his devotion to himself. This is not a warrior, nor a faithful husband. This is a man that creates a paradigm that others view him in and then carries on in his own manner as he sees fit. The key word we are looking for is conviction. Or perhaps more succinctly - fraud.

It is via this metric that we discover that his fidelity to his wife only bears on his job performance in as much as it demonstrates that when the stakes really matter, Newt will back....well, Newt. Of course his history tells us as much. From 2010 -

Fool me once, shame on you.

In 1994, Republicans surged into power with the Contract With America amid promises of shrinking the size of government, promoting lower taxes, greater entrepreneurial activity, tort reform and welfare reform. While one can quibble that this was achieved to a degree, the overall net effect during this time was the exact opposite. Government largess grew exponentially, myriads of wars were started, Federal departments were created and liberty was slashed to a nub. Towards the end of 2008, all that remained were entitled carcasses of what was in effect "dead" politicians.

Just like the ring of power, Republicans seized the power and then the power seized them. This is why we the Democrats were able to route the Republicans in 2008 amid "Hope and Change".

Put simply, this is exactly the reason why I support Rep. Paul. He is the only Republican candidate that wants to destroy the ring of power and the reason why he is being marginalized is because he will actually do it.