A Brave Newt World

Buckle up, America...it's going to be an interesting year!

The political class and the talking heads continue to prove just how far out of touch they are with the people. To them, 2012 is business as usual - in reality, it is anything but.

Americans are fed up. For decades, we have watched as administration after administration move us ever closer to socialism, confiscating our wealth to support countries, people and values we find abhorrent. In 2010 we thought we sent a powerful message to Washington, D.C. - it was not received. We are starved for someone who GETS IT...someone who is in touch with reality, who understands that our nation is facing an enormous crisis and doesn't shrug off a national debt in excess of fifteen trillion dollars as no big deal. We are in no mood for mushy moderates who embrace political correctness and sugar-coat the issues - we are in the mood for a revolution.

Enter Newt Gingrich.

We are told he's not reliable, he's a loose cannon, he's not a true conservative. He is hated nearly as much by the establishment right as he is the left. His personal life story is the stuff from which soap operas are made. Unelectable! Unworthy! Inappropriate!

In the past, we would have meekly turned away without giving him a chance. Not this time. This time we sized up the rest of the field and found it (with the exception of Ron Paul) to be more of the same. Sure, they make some good points and say the right things...but they just don't share our anger, our indignation at the course our country is following. Cookie cutter candidates, lined up neatly on the debate stage, each trying to convince us they are the perfect cookie and ever so much better than the others...but they're all the same. They all parse their words ever so carefully - mustn't say anything that might offend anyone! They smile their perfect white smiles as they try to appear to be the best informed, the strongest, the ONE. And we don't care. Any of them would be an improvement over what we have now, we tell our friends, but none of them is inspiring or exciting. None of them give us any HOPE for real CHANGE.

Except that one man stands out. One guy up there seems to understand. But, no, we can't support Gingrich! He is a Washington insider! He is the physical embodiment of everything we despise...isn't he?

For me, it was the night he was asked to list examples of things he would change were he elected. He listed several, including Agenda 21. I was bored at the time, only barely paying attention, and had to back it up and listen again - did he really say Agenda 21? Yes, he said it, and he swore to fight it. I was pleasantly surprised...no other candidate had ever given a sign they even knew what it was. That was the moment I first seriously considered Newt Gingrich.

Shortly thereafter, he began to rise in the polls, as others had their moments with Newt. The breadth of his knowledge is astonishing - his passion and willingness to speak truth to power so refreshing. Millions of us began leaning toward Gingrich, but we quickly learned that it wasn't prudent to admit it - the mere mention of his name in conversation brought ridicule as the attacks on him mounted and opposition to him solidified.

After Iowa, and Santorum's unlikely rise, it seemed Newt was destined for the ash heap. His own inept attacks on Romney nearly completed his political death. But the debates continued, and he continued to strike exactly the right tone for an angry electorate, time after time after time. The South Carolina debates had viewers nearly jumping up and down with excitement - yes, excitement! - at his direct responses, his refusal to run in terror from charges of racism and his willingness to push back against the media. They threw everything they could dig up at him, including a bitter ex-wife, and the electorate simply didn't care.

Newt went on to win South Carolina - convincingly. He won almost every demographic, losing only those who could rightly be called "the establishment." He won all but a couple of counties across the state, uniting the Christian conservatives, fiscal conservatives and military in a style that prompted at least one pundit to note that he was recreating the Reagan coalition. He generated record turnout in spite of severe thunderstorms across much of the state. Now the new Florida polls are showing a roughly 30 point swing in less than a week - Romney's 20+ point lead is now approaching a double digit deficit in the Sunshine State.

It's still very early in the process, but something important is happening here. Americans know that Newt Gingrich is dangerous and uncontrollable, but we sense that he is one of us, that he understands the issues which keep us awake at night, and, perhaps most importantly, that he shares our anger and indignation. The people are searching for a leader, and will gladly embrace a man who is shunned by their oppressors - the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Barring self-destruction, Newt Gingrich will soon find himself in command of an army of millions of motivated citizens who have longed for leadership for decades. The possibilities are endless.