I attended the Upstate Republican Party (a coordinated effort of the Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson Republican Parties) rally on Wednesday evening where Newt Gingrich spoke to a crowd of over three hundred enthusiastic Republicans. The enthusiasm warmed my heart, and if we can garner even half that energy on election day Republicans will return to Columbia in record numbers.
One thing we’ve always known about Newt is that he tells it like it is. One of the reasons Newt is so effective is that he knows how it is. Newt began his speech by addressing the Mark Foley situation in D. C. He absolutely condemned Foley, but reminded us all that twenty years ago, when faced with an eerily similar scenario, Democrats not only supported like offenders but applauded them in their caucus.
Newt then moved on to the war on terrorism, and set the scene of Nancy Pelosi becoming third in line as commander-in-chief. He recounted, in detail that only comes from intimate knowledge, the series of failures whereby the Clinton administration, including both Bill and the president, abandoned their responsibility to defend this nation.
The Speaker then discussed health care with an acumen only an expert can muster. He examined the government’s monopoly in the form of Medicaid by proposing analogous government takeovers of auto sales other consumer choices. It was funny, but it also reminded us of the difference between Democrats (mostly liberals) and Republicans (usually conservatives). The former think government is the solution, the latter think freedom is the solution.
Gingrich delivered the best speech I’ve heard in a while. If he’s not the smartest guy running (as officially as anyone is running right now) for president, then I’m waiting to see his equal. I'm disturbed with Newt's own baggage, but for sheer intellect, guts, and plain speaking, Newt is a leader for conservatives in America.
