An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich

COMMENTARY | Dear Mr. Gingrich,

You don't know me. My name is Patricia Campion. I am a conservative Republican living down here in the economically depressed state of Florida where the housing market has pretty much bottomed out. Me and my family are hanging in there. We are very much looking forward to 2012. In the meantime, I would like to share a few thoughts with you.

I remember when you were the Speaker of the House. You were pretty cool then, riding into the position upon that Reagan Revolution and your "Contract With America" thing with all of those promises of transparency, smaller government, a balanced budget and the like. But, just as Nancy Pelosi broke all of those "most ethical Congress" and "drain the swamp" promises that brought about that massive Republican turnover in the November midterms, your graceless caving to the elitist Republican establishment who rather enjoyed the status quo served to desecrate what little faith we had left in you guys and caused that similarly massive turnover in 1998.

Of course, your inability to produce all of those promises in that Contract forced your awkward early retirement. Then there was that whole matter where you publicly slapped Bill Clinton around for that deal with Monica Lewinsky while simultaneously cheating on your second wife. You know what they say about living in a glass House.

Since you announced your candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination the hair on the back of my neck stood high with the static electricity of memories past just waiting for that inevitable zap. You didn't let me down. You validated my worries the day you tried to score political points with liberals and moderates by stabbing us conservative Republicans in the back.

Your public condemnation of Paul Ryan's budget proposal caused immediate thoughts of "Etu Nute.'" It wasn't so much that you disagreed with his opinions but that you already blew your own chance to make a real difference when you had it. Then, like Obama, rather than deal with the backlash of "miss-speaking" yourself (i.e.: thinking out loud while the cameras were running) you dashed off on a vacation with your wife and left your campaign staff here to put out your political faux pas fire.

Upon your return, your campaign staff quit. Your demand that NBC issue you an apology for reporting your embarrassment was, well, embarrassing.

Now your fundraising staff has jumped ship.

Recent revelations that you are using your "nonprofit charity," Renewing American Leadership that you advertise as a means to "promote freedom, faith and free enterprise" as a back-door means of promoting your political views is shameful. That you used this "nonprofit charity" to funnel $220,000 into your FOR-profit company called "Gingrich Communications" is frankly cause for legal action.

I suppose what I am trying to say to you Sir is this; while I was trying desperately to remember you fondly you are making it very difficult. While I know we have a long way to go in returning the Republican Party to its founding principles we are making some headway, and I would like to keep it that way. Therefore, as you seem committed to base your campaign on a platform of deception, embarrassing my party, humiliating my elected leaders who are making honest efforts to solve our problems and insulting my intelligence by assuming I have somehow forgotten the past and that am not paying attention to what you are doing and saying today, I must now step forward and kindly ask you to shut up and go away.

Sincerely,

Patricia Campion

Sources:

"Republican Contract with America", House.gov

"Gingrich Attacks Clinton on Lewinski Matter, Foreign Policy", CNN

"Gingrich Calls it Quits", CNN

Emily Schultheis, "Gingrich Confronted Over Affair", Politico

Dan Hirschhorn, "Newt Gingrich Demands NBC Apology", Politico

Michael Warren, "Gingrich Finance Staff Quits", The Weekly Standard

Matthew Mosk, "Newt Gingrich Charity Paid Cash to Gingrich For-profit Business", ABC News