As an interested voter, I was pleased that Newt Gingrich added himself to the menu of Republican and Tea Party candidates (Carnival Party) running for president. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in the treatment Newt has recently received from his right wing colleagues, both the politicos and the pundits.
Having subscribed to the 2008 Obama campaign mantra of “change we can believe in,” I was fascinated and encouraged that Mr. Gingrich has himself demonstrated, even more than President Obama, a commitment to that mantra. Without even considering his politically hazardous “change” of positions on US involvement in Libya or the Republican House plan to abolish Medicare and give millionaires an additional tax cut, Mr. Gingrich’s historical track record on “change you can believe in” should be embraced by all, especially his right wing, family values cohorts.
Consider the following. The earliest demonstration of Newt’s commitment to “change,” although unknown to most voters, occurred when he was very young and his mother remarried. Newt changed his name from Newton Leroy McPherson to Newton Leroy Gingrich. I can believe in that. Additionally, shortening Newton to Newt instead of using his middle name of Leroy would also seem to be a reasonable change.
A more commonly known fact is Newton’s propensity to “change” wives.
Without going into the sordid details of who, how and why, three marriages certainly constitutes “change” in anybody’s book. Certainly, this easily outscores Obama’s pledge of “change you can believe in.”
Last, but not least, in this short vignette, is the fact that Mr. Gingrich, formerly McPherson, also changed his religion. WOW, if he made a mistake in this change he could be in a lot of trouble, even more trouble than that caused by his changes of positions on political issues such as abolishing Medicare.
The foregoing may be bothersome to some, but not to me. As I previously stated, I subscribe to the mantra of “change you can believe in.” Consequently, I hope that Mr. Gingrich will be the Republican presidential nominee. Only in that way will I have a real choice between “change” candidates that I can believe in.
