Click here to read the Fox News story on Newt Gingrich's announcement two days ago that he will not be seeking the Republican nomination for president. Apparently he discovered that to even explore a candidacy while heading up the non-profit organization American Solutions had the potential for violating campaign finance law. Unwilling to leave his new project so soon after its inception, he has ruled out running for president at this time.
On the one hand, I have a lot of respect for someone who says "I made a commitment to this vision and I'm not going to toss it aside just because of the possibility of catching an even bigger fish." There is no guarantee that a presidential run would have been successful, whereas American Solutions seems to be a movement with a future. On the other hand, I have to say I find it surprising that a guy as smart as Gingrich would not have researched the law well enough before now (or had his lawyers do so) to know what was at stake. But maybe that's just a testament to the complexity of McCain-Feingold: even Gingrich didn't fully understand it.
I for one am disappointed. I was looking forward to a Gingrich run, for reasons previously outlined. Now it looks like I have to give up on that possibility and accept that the Republican dance card is pretty much filled and that it's time for me to start getting to know all of these candidates a bit better so that I can make an informed decision next year.
I just wish my card had one more name on it.
2 comments:
Awww.... don't give up on Fred Thompson already! :) Come on over to the dark side; the hippie-punching is fun!
Seriously, though, Gingrich probably has too much (unfair) political baggage to run. Of course, so does Hilary. (Hurumph! Why isn't life fair? I demand for the world to be fair! Waaahhhh!)
And I think a brain like Gingrich can accomplish much more in the long run through a non-profit than he could as president.
So, take heart, and remember that even though the future of the free world is at stake, it still a game, and there's not much more fun to be had in geo-politics than an American election cycle!
Also remember the one thing we learned from the (first) Clinton years: we can survive anything. :)
About Gingrich not knowing about the conflict of interest...
I don't think it's lack of preparation. I think you're right about its being testimony to how complex (and even self-contradictory) our laws can be. In other words, that more and more laws tend to stop good people from doing good things than prevent bad people from doing bad things.
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