Gingrich Says Road to White House “Insane”
Thursday, August 9th, 2007Potential presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Tuesday blasted the modern-day road to the White House as too long, too expensive and verging on “insane.”The former House speaker from Georgia said he will decide whether to enter the GOP presidential field in October. But in a wide-ranging speech at the National Press Club in Washington, he ridiculed campaign consultants and spin doctors who he said are extending the 2008 campaign. He said presidential debates have become “almost unendurable.”
“These aren’t debates,” the former Georgia congressman said. “This is a cross between [TV shows] ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘American Idol’ and ‘Who’s Smarter than a Fifth-Grader.’”
“What’s the job of the candidate in this world?” asked Gingrich. “The job of the candidate is to raise the money to hire the consultants to do the focus groups to figure out the 30-second answers to be memorized by the candidate. This is stunningly dangerous.”
I agree with everything he is saying. The media really kicked off this campaign almost two years before the election is to take place. That’s too long to endure the daily coverage and 30 second sound bites at debates that don’t answer anyone’s questions. People are going to have election fatigue before 2008 even gets here and it will be a turn off rather than an enticement to get involved. Additionally, I think the media has lost respect for the Presidential office in itself, as exampled by the ridiculous YouTube debate.
