COMMENTARY | The 2012 Republican nomination is up for grabs with no clear frontrunner, and Newt Gingrich will run as one of the more well-known candidates at this early stage in the game. Despite the wide open race at this point, Gingrich will face an uphill battle as a result of three major disadvantages that will weigh him down.
Scant Election Experience
During the 2008 presidential election, much was made by Republicans of President Obama's relative lack of legislative experience. At the time of his election, he had served just four years in the U.S. Senate as his only national experience. As the New York Times notes, Gingrich will certainly face similar criticism.
He has not held office since 1998, when he resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives. In his political career, he has not won a statewide or national election. The last president to be elected without having won a statewide or national election was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who made himself a household name after commanding troops during World War II.
Experience is always a talking point for one side or the other as it can be applied to whatever issue happens to be the hot topic of the time. It's likely that the economy will dominate much of the political narrative and some of the other Republican candidates, as well as Obama, will tout their legislative and executive experience as an advantage over Gingrich.
Questionable Marriage History
Candidates for political office seem to face more scrutiny of their personal life than candidates for other jobs. Perhaps the public wants to trust its leaders, and a candidate's personal life is one way to earn that trust. For Gingrich, there will be some explaining to do as the details of his marriage history become more and more discussed during the primary season.
Gingrich is currently married to his third wife. He divorced his first wife, whom he married at the age of 19, after having an affair with the woman who would eventually become his second wife. The second marriage fell apart when Gingrich was unfaithful again, this time with a 23-year-old staffer whom he married in 2000.
There is a reason candidates love to drag their families up on stage to hold hands and wave to their supporters after a speech. Voters identify with family values and are naturally more trusting of a candidate who shares them. In fact, John Edwards was unfaithful to his wife, then lied about it, during the 2008 Democratic primary race. As a result of the mistrust he earned, he was forced to drop out of the race altogether.
Gingrich will face the challenging task of earning the trust of voters who will inevitably learn of a marriage history that does not exude trustworthiness.
Shocking Rhetoric
Especially in today's divisive political climate and easy access to sound bytes, every word coming from a politician's mouth can be scrutinized and analyzed to the point of taking on a life of its own. Gingrich, who has appeared as an analyst multiple times on FOX News, has said a few things recently that are likely to haunt him as the primary season moves forward.
Just last fall, Gingrich told National Review Online that President Obama may follow a "Kenyan, anti-colonial" worldview. His words will bring up discussion of Obama's Kenyan father, whom Obama has said, according to the Washington Post, he barely knew. Discussing this particular topic, instead of the economy, jobs, high gas prices, etc., will only infuriate voters who are demanding answers on the issues that matter. Gingrich's opponents will use comments like this one to portray him as an out-of-touch, spiteful candidate without the ability to lead.
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