I don't have a dog in this fight, but...

[Lamplighter]

Regardless of the pundits' expectations about Gingrich getting the GOP nomination,
why does his personal life have such a bad reputation ?

from Wikipedia:

Gingrich has been married three times.
In 1962 he married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, he was 19 and she was 26,
In the spring of 1980, Gingrich left Battley after having an affair with Marianne Ginther.

Six months after the divorce from Battley was final, Gingrich wed Marianne Ginther in 1981

In the mid-1990s, Gingrich began an affair with congressional staffer Callista Bisek, who is 23 years his junior.
In 2000, Gingrich married Bisek shortly after his divorce from second wife Ginther.

In 1984 his first wife, told the Washington Post that the divorce was a "complete surprise" to her.
According to Battley, in September 1980 Gingrich and their children visited her
while she was in the hospital, recovering from surgery, and Gingrich
wanted to discuss the terms of their divorce.
Gingrich has disputed that account.<snip>

Gingrich became a leader of the Republican investigation of President Clinton
for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with his [Clinton's] affairs.
Gingrich regularly attacked President Bill Clinton for his immorality,
pointing to "a level of disrespect and decadence that should appall every American."

It was later revealed that, during this period, Gingrich himself was having sex with a congressional aide in her 20s.
Gingrich and Bisek had continued their affair thoughout the Lewinsky scandal,
This is one hypocrisy that has followed him since.

And besides all that:

Gingrich has an exquisite talent for speaking with words his audience needs/wants to hear,
even when he presents one of the most outrageous excuses for adultery in American politics.
It was his patriotism that made him do it.


CNN.com
In a 2011 interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network
Gingrich addressed his past infidelities by saying:

There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country,
that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.
And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong,
I wasn’t trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them.

I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness.
Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness. I do believe in a forgiving God.
And I think most people, deep down in their hearts hope there’s a forgiving God.

.

[classicman]

ouch!

[ZenGum]

It was all his mother's fault.


She turned him into a newt!

[Lamplighter]

NEWT GINGRICH, The Politician

Newt Gingrich has spent his lifetime in politics, at local, state, and federal levels.
He is mostly known for his time, during the Clinton years, as Speaker of the House from 1994-1998.

During that time, he was effective, working with Clinton and the Senate, to approve balanced budgets.
He has a reputation (that he promotes) as being smart, intellectual, and hot tempered.
He also has a reputation as being more moderate than other Republicans,
and willing to work with Democrats on some issues.

But he still has the reputation of being the:
"most unpopular man in American politics" for his Contract for America
"the only Speaker of the House to be disciplined for ethics violations"
"the most hypocritical politician" during Clinton's impeachment proceedings.

Some of his national platform issues have been:
*replacing EPA with an "Environmental Solutions Agency"
*reopening all off-shore oil-drilling
*ensuring there are no new taxes
*abolishing the capital gains tax
*reducing the corporate tax
*abolishing the so-called death tax.
*100% deduction for business equipment in one year
*option to purchase private insurance instead of Medicare.
*opposition to Supreme Court ban on school prayer

And besides all that:

Gingrich is very confident of this abilities
In an interview, he said

He does not think he is smarter than the other presidential candidates,
only that he has spent more years— 53, he says—studying how to best lead the country.
"I don't know of anybody else who is around today who has spent
that much time," thinking about governing, he said.
"Bill and Hillary [Clinton] may be closest in the sheer length that they've thought about it."

And besides, besides all that:

Gingrich is currently challenged for his "consulting fees" from Freddy Mac and Fanny May.
He argues he was hired as a "historian" while others favor "lobbiest"
If it turns out to be the latter, Gingrich may have run afoul of federal laws on lobbying.

But Newt is very confident of his ability to change his image:

At one point during his dalliance with the Democratic establishment,
Gingrich joked that “one can gradually rebuild almost any reputation
if you pander enough to the authorities that write columns and show up on TV.”

.

[classicman]

He's still an asshole and his past, both public and private will not allow him to get the nomination.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

He's still an asshole and his past, both public and private will not allow him to get the nomination.

Hopefully. Just remember who you're talking about.

[classicman]

Cain, Next, Bachmann, Santorum ... I know I'm forgetting someone here, but I basically feel the same about mostly all of them.

[Spexxvet]

I was referring to the electorate who will be doing the nominating. You can't be sure they won't nominate Newt - if the primary had been held previously, Palin, Bachmann, Cain, and uhhhh... Perry would each have been nominated. And they all suck as badly as Newt.

[classicman]

Frightening actually.
A poll showing Cain leading tells more about those being polled than it does about his abilities to lead. Honestly, it shows what a sad state we are in. This should be about selecting the best leader for the country, and I am still amazed that he is even being considered, let alone in the lead. The pickens are pretty slim.

Do they even pull their head out long enough to see ho much better the alternative looks compared to their options?

[piercehawkeye45]

When you vote based on ideals, no.

[TheMercenary]

What? Haven't you been paying attention for the past 3 years?

[TheMercenary]

Obama 2006:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

[TheMercenary]

Obama's association with Rev. Wright, well I mean until the Rev's speeches got air time... a chruch that embraced black liberation theology

[TheMercenary]

In 1995 Obama openly sought and obtained the endorsement of the Marxist New Party in his quest to be elected to the Illinois State Senate.

June 3, 2008
Obama's Alliance with Marxists

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/..._marxists.html

Also well supported and referenced in two great books:

Dreams from My Father, by BHO

and

The Roots of Obama's Rage by Dinesh D'Souza

[TheMercenary]

As Senator, Obama was highly critical of President Bush and his use of power and he promised change. He promised to close Gitmo. He railed against Bush for use war powers, surveillance questions, Guantanamo, detention policy and habeas corpus but yet he basically stayed the course on every issue and in many cases expanded them.