I am so sorry that you and Ben could not have gone with me to the Santorum event in Allen, Texas, in which we were in a room of about 40 with Santorum. If you had been there, you would have seen up-close-and-personal what all of us saw. Santorum is absolutely not about ego. He is about a commitment to rescue our nation, our culture, and our children from the slippery slope.
Gingrich, on the other hand, is all about ego; and people who know Gingrich well have said this is even the case today – not just when he was the Speaker of the House.
Santorum is a committed Christian who has lived it, walked it, talked it. Gingrich has not, and the public knows it. Gingrich can never energize the conservative base because he is a sham. His strength is as a debater; but what good would it be to have a debater in the White House when we need a principled President who is humble and has a personal relationship with the Lord upon whom he knows to call for wisdom.
On the other hand, Gingrich would operate in his own strength, throwing out “his big idea of the day.” He and Callista would surround themselves with the elite just as Obama and Michelle do.
Santorum’s sincerity and humility are not fake, and people all around the country who have attended his rallies have been impressed with the same qualities. You know me and that I am not easily fooled by politicians; in fact, I am somewhat jaded. I know what to observe when in the presence of politicians. I saw no ego in Rick Santorum nor in the staffers and volunteers who are helping him.
This is not for advertisement, but do you know how many paid staffers he has in the state of Texas? One – Michelle Smith; and she is the person who told me that she did not even know Santorum until she went to a meeting in D. C. back in August. She happened to be seated at a table with him and asked him if he would want to come to Texas. He said he would contact her which he did. He came down here in October, and Michelle could not even get any of the media to show enough interest to cover his visit. She and other volunteers traveled with Santorum around the state for four days. She saw him in every imaginable situation, living on a shoestring, eating at people’s houses, staying in their bedrooms, etc. She said his humility, graciousness, kindness, and personal faith touched her heart so much that she volunteered right then to help him in Texas. It was not until a few months ago that she became a paid staffer.
Believe me, you would never see that kind of down-to-earth, common man attitude on the part of Gingrich. In fact, the reason he almost had to quit back in June of this year is because he and Callista ran up a million dollars of debt flying on private airplanes while at the same time not paying their bills to those with whom they had contracted. Callista and Gingrich also took a Mediterranean cruise right at the time when the campaign was starting to rev up. That made Gingrich’s campaigners so mad that many left him at that time, and rightly so. Can you imagine how Gingrich and Callista would live if given the “keys to the kingdom” at the White House? Can you imagine the type of elitists with whom he would surround himself in his cabinet? Remember Gingrich is the one who infuriated the Republican conservatives who were elected in Clinton’s second term. They went to Washington, D. C. to address the social issues as root causes of entitlements, and Gingrich told them that they were not to talk about social issues. That is why so many of them have refused to endorse Gingrich in this election.
For what it is worth…
Donna Garner
Wgarner1@hot.rr.com