The Vice Presidency is a constitutional office quite independent legally of the president who has no power to fire him. The power of the Vice President, apart from his constitutional power to break a tie in the Senate, comes from the expectation that he might be President. This can arise because the Vice President succeeds the President through death or resignation or by way of election in his own right.
Therefore there is no way apart from moral persuasion that a strong personality in the office of Vice President can be kept from going off the reservation if that is his bent. Gingrich, if nothing else, is a strong personality.
Gingrich is too old to run for President after eight years and so the position should go to a younger man like a Marco Rubio. We as conservatives are fortunate to be confronted with an opportunity gifted to us by Obama who has overreached because of his own narcissism. We are, however, challenged by a demographic drift which threatens to engulf conservatism and wash it into the backwaters of history.
In other words, if we lose this election we may never get another chance because demographics will have sealed the fate of conservatism.
The Hispanic vote is becoming more crucial every year and the headlines this week tell us that more babies of color are born than Caucasian babies which is ominous because mothers of color let their babies grow up to be Democrats. We need a good 12 to 16 years of Republican rule (which I can only pray equates to conservative rule) to shape the culture of the country so that we can expect Hispanic babies as well as Asian babies to vote conservative. We cannot afford to give the country back to the Marxists and hope to prevail against the demographic tsunami about to overwhelm us.
The upside of the Gingrich appointment is that he could develop a relationship with Romney akin to the relationship between Cheney and Bush in which the President entrusted Cheney with vast powers and responsibilities for the security of the homeland. Cheney did a magnificent job. He offered advice on all matters domestic as well and the country was the richer for it. Gingrich could fulfill such a role. But he does not have to be a Vice President to do so.
Gingrich can effectively campaign for Romney even though he would not be on the ticket because of the force of Gingrich's personality. It were felt that he needed to be given a sanctioned role to play, Gingrich could be bruited as the administration's point man on energy, for example. Finally, Gingrich brings no state into play. Georgia is already in the bag and he does not have any known coattails in Virginia where he currently lives. Gingrich might have broad appeal nationally but it is not clear that his appeal exceeds his liabilities. I am sure Romney's internal polls inform him well on that subject.
It is my feeling that this election will break later for Romney in a big way but a prudent course is to campaign as though the election will be decided in Ohio. Romney must carry Virginia as well. Accordingly, Romney needs to nail down Ohio and Virginia and that suggests Portman and McConnell. It is even conceivable that Romney's internal polls tell him that Santorum could deliver Pennsylvania, although I am skeptical even as I am willing to be educated.
I am of the view that Marco Rubio offers the most upside, virtually guaranteeing Florida-a must win state-and hopefully drawing well in the Southwest among Hispanics even though he is Cuban and not Mexican. There is a very clear path to victory for Romney if he can tie up Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and perhaps even New Mexico. Rubio would also draw in many places along the East Coast with growing Hispanic minorities such as, believe it or not, New Jersey.
A final word about Newt Gingrich. I have posted long (no surprise to anyone there) and hard that it is not enough just to win the next election, it is vital that the new administration recognize that the Republic must be pulled back from the brink of economic and political destruction.
Short-term, the economic threat is obvious with the whole world moving toward recession. Our debt is overwhelming and the debt clock is ticking ominously. If we do not deal with the debt soon we will be overwhelmed and representative democracy will be under the gravest threat.
Longer-term, we have a cultural malaise in this country cresting in a demographic wave which is swelling our economic and political malaise even as it affects the whole culture. We cannot educate our kids who cannot compete with well-educated, highly motivated Asian kids. We are loaded with debt. At least 50% of the country is ignorant and self indulgent.
We are engaged in a world wide generational, existential war with aggressive Islam which is quite prepared to use weapons of mass destruction or indulge in terror, or both. Neo-communism is linking up with Islam to do us great mischief. Europe is threatened with the destruction of its currency if not its political structure. China is slipping into recession caused by the world's largest real estate bubble. There is no glimmer of hope anywhere on the economic horizon but only storm clouds, the storm clouds of a perfect storm.
These are the concerns that impelled me early on to call for the election of Newt Gingrich despite his baggage. If Romney has the humility to use his undoubted intelligence, he will find a role for Gingrich. If he is what so many of us fear, a Rino, he will either marginalize Gingrich or seek to use him as a beard to disguise Romney's own liberalism but not really collaborate with him.
We need someone like Gingrich to move the country toward a great vision of renewal. I regret deeply that he was not nominated. I hope he is patriot enough to give Romney every assistance and I hope Romney is humble enough to accept it.
