I Love Newt Gingrich?

I don't love Newt Gingrich. However, I listened to a speech he gave at the National Press Club, broadcast by C-Span, that enamored me. In it he spoke quite frankly about the completely deficient system of review that we use to elect the President, and offered a common sense solution that could revolutionize our political system. My summary of these points and some additional comments follow.

The media/political/consultant/lobbyist industry that currently elects high officials is self sustaining, like a perpetual energy machine running on fear, graft and generally bad ethics.

How can there be so much money spent on a campaign, and yet there still be such poor diligence on the process of communicating substantive information to the public. Why did "Howard Dean disintegrate?"(Newt) Why is it more important to report on slights from front runners than analysis of records and serious questions?

The excuse is that this is what people pay attention to, but it's a justification because the problem is that this is what they are given. 1 minute answers in phony debates, short partisan press spots, attack ads. This is a system filled with venom that serves only to bring a candidate down, which is no better shown than in the two recent elections of president Bush. How can we be surprised by the resulting leadership or should I say the utter lack of it?

To win an election you need to be both rich and famous. Namely Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michael Bloomberg, Mitt Romney, Jon McCain, Rudy Giuliani, George W. Bush. "Jimmy Carter would have a very hard time rising in that system" Gingrich said. You need the best consultants, the best graphic media, the best theme songs, and polls on top of polls.

So who is the best candidate? We're certainly going to need it to face the overwhelming burden of problems left unsolved for so very, very, very long. How do we find this capable leader?

Surprisingly the answer may be this simple: We test them.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates were held to win a seat in the Senate in 1858. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas held 7, 3 hour timed debates to reach the people of Illinois. Newt raised this example a few times. These are classic historical texts that provide more substantive information than I dare say will be covered in this entire election cycle by the major networks.

Now, this is where Newt's message really presents something new. The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries should agree to host a series of timed debates once a week for a few hours for several weeks before the election. Primarily of a format where they might ask questions directly of each other and be allowed undisturbed periods to respond, questions from the audience a moderator, etc. Perhaps even traveling around the country to encourage greater participation.

To paraphrase Newt, for the primaries instead of these 2 hour debates with 10's of candidates why not a 2 hour debate with two of them? Why not a structured series of debates, round robin, or however. Last week I watched the McLaughlin Group supposedly a show of political insiders and they spent 15 minutes analyzing a few brief remarks between Hilary and Barak during the recent debates. After all it's what people want to see. Sit two opponents down, force them to face each other, answer and ask hard questions, think and for god sakes be challenged. Newt also added that you could pair up Democrats and Republicans during the primaries as well. Not only would it give us a real sense of the candidate and where they stand, it would also raise the dialogue in the whole country.

Certainly this has it's own weaknesses and challenges after all the best leader might not be the best speaker, but it's probably even less likely that it's the person who picked the best consultant groups, who looks and sells the best.

For those who think that people aren't going to pay attention to that much discussion, I'm surprised you made it this far in this post. With the Internet, pod casts, newspapers, C-Span, 24-hour news, there is no doubt the information will disseminate, it's what good information does.


A reporter raised the question that perhaps Newt was so contemplative because he believed this to be a year for the Democrats. A good explanation for his support of possibly the most incapable speaker, debater and statesman in our nations history, but it's not the messenger it's the message that's important.

I generally don't care to listen to Newt, but I believe he recognizes as most adult Americans that give a damn that we are at a moment of decision. It's the same reason that both fields are flooded with candidates. Bush's second election has clearly shown that he was not a mistake or a lucky crook, but the product of a broken system. The door is open to all, the presidency is up for sale and it's a steal.

Our government is collapsing around us. Fiat money is being used poorly to patch the holes of health care, social security, and chronic infrastructure deterioration, all the while further devaluing our currency world wide. The blood of countless Iraqi's, and so many other of our human brothers and sisters is on all of our hands, many good people, equally deserving of love as all of us.

These Presidential candidates are asking for our futures. Doing the same things and expecting a different result is madness. If we let the system stand as it is, we already know what we are going to get.

Please help us and demand what should be our right. Write your Congressman , or any presidential candidate a quick email (you can find most of their contact info at the website listed below) and encourage them to step up and begin a process of open substanative non-partisan discussion. It might be the smallest step you can take to effect the greatest change in our government.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/


You can see more of Newts speech at:

http://www.cspan.org/VideoArchives.asp?CatCodePairs=,&ArchiveDays=100&Page=2


Thank you for your time.




Citations:

Gingrich, Newt. (8-7-07). National Press Club Luncheon
[Television broadcast]. 400 N Capitol St NW # 650 Washington, DC 20001: Comcast.