Education dominated Gingrich’s life from the time he entered Emory University and on from there. While at Emory, he earned a B.A. in history in 1965 and then an M.A. in 1968. From there the budding scholar earned a PhD in modern European history from Tulane University in 1971. Well-suited for the academic life, Gingrich taught history at West Georgia College (now the University of West Georgia) for eight years.

Political Career

While still at Emory, Gingrich had his first taste of a political campaign as Southern regional director for Nelson Rockefeller. Gingrich ran for the Sixth Congressional District of Georgia in both 1974 and 1978, but was defeated both times by long-time Democrat incumbent, Jack Flynt.  When Flynt chose to retire in 1978, Gingrich won the district handily and went on to be re-elected six times.

His first formal position with Republican Party leadership came in 1989 when Gingrich became Minority Whip.  Among other things during this tenure, he and others Representatives known as the Gang of Seven sought to institute tighter ethical controls, which culminated in dealing with two noted scandals centered on the Congressional Post Office and House Banking. Ironically, Gingrich himself was found to have overdrafted twenty-two checks with the House bank, including one for almost $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Halfway through Bill Clinton’s Presidency, the Republicans gained fifty-four seats, seizing control of the House, and Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. Gingrich and others penned what became known as a Contract with America that proposed ten key policies that they promised to bring to a vote in the first hundred days of the new Congress.  In a rare moment of politicians keeping their promise, the new Republican Congress kept its word and voted on all ten measures.

Partly fueled by Democratic opposition and partly brought on by Gingrich himself, the Speaker faced eighty-four charges of ethics violations during his tenure. Only one was not dropped.  In 1997, Newt Gingrich became the first Speaker of the House in U.S. history to be disciplined for ethics violations. That and division within the party ultimately led to his stepping down from the Speakership and resigning from Congress in 1998. Though he has considered running for President in the past, 2012 marks the first Presidential campaign Gingrich has officially entered.

His Platform

Since New Gingrich has a long and well-documented political record, there are no doubt his stands and voting record will be easy targets for opponents and badges of honor for supporters. Here are some of his official stands, according to Newt.org:

Jobs and the Economy

• Stop the 2013 tax increases
• Eliminate the capital gains tax to make American entrepreneurs more competitive against those in other countries
• Dramatically reduce the corporate income tax (the highest in the world) to 12.5%
• Allowing for 100% expensing of new equipment to spur innovation and American manufacturing
• Ending the death tax permanently
• Move toward an optional flat tax of 15%
• Return to the Reagan-era monetary policies that stopped runaway inflation and reform the Federal Reserve to promote transparency
• Repeal the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which did nothing to prevent the financial crisis and is holding companies back from making new investments in the U.S.
• Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act, the abuse of which helped cause the financial crisis
• Break up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, moving their smaller successors off government guarantees and into the free market
• Replace the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Solutions Agency that works collaboratively with local government and industry to achieve better results
• Modernize the Food and Drug Administration to get lifesaving medicines and technologies to patients faster
• Implementation of an American energy policy that removes obstacles to responsible energy development
• Balance the budget by growing the economy, controlling spending, implementing money-saving reforms, and replacing destructive policies and regulatory agencies with new approaches
• Repeal and replace Obamacare
• Fundamental reform of entitlement programs

Truth about National Security – Gingrich isn’t as specific when it comes to his plans for national security.  He has stressed the need to recognize radical Islam as a threat to Western Civilization. Gingrich says, “military force must be used judiciously and with clear, obtainable objectives understood by Congress.” And like many conservatives, he advocates protecting our borders but to date has offered no solid plan has to how to accomplish that task.

American Energy Plan – Several viable and much-needed goals are set forth in his energy plan:

• Remove bureaucratic and legal obstacles to responsible oil and natural gas development in the United States, offshore and on land
• End the ban on oil shale development in the American West
• Give coastal states federal royalty revenue sharing to give them an incentive to allow offshore development
• Replace the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Solutions Agency that would use incentives and work cooperatively with local government and industry

Healthcare –Some of the things Gingrich supports include tax credits for health insurance as well as making that insurance portable, reforming Medicaid, instituting a High Risk Pool to cover the sickest without insurance, extending Health Savings Accounts throughout the entire health care system, and tort reform.

Gingrich also created a fire storm within his party recently when he questioned Congressman Paul Ryan’s campaign to fundamentally restructure Medicaid. When questioned by David Gregory of Meet the Press, he said:

I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.

In spite of his almost immediate backtracking, many Republicans were incensed by Gingrich’s attack on Ryan’s plan. Calling the plan “right-wing social engineering” may haunt his plans for a Presidential run even more than the other baggage Gingrich brings with him.

Personal Life – Public Image

Though the personal lives of other candidates and Presidents hasn’t seemed to hurt them (think Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky and Ken Starr), Gingrich seeks to run as a conservative, and their standards may just be a little higher. Many of the details of Gingrich’s personal problems have been distorted, but there is no doubt about the following facts.

At the age of nineteen Gingrich married his former high-school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, who was twenty-six. After a lengthy affair, he asked his wife for a divorce while she was in the hospital for surgery. Six months after the divorce was finalized, Gingrich married Marianne Ginther in 1981. During the mid 90s, he became involved in an affair with Callista Bisekm, a Congressional staffer who was twenty-three years his junior. In another irony of his career, this affair was at its height during the time Gingrich had assumed leadership of the Republican investigation of President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice over his affairs with Monica Lewinsky. After divorcing his second wife, the two were married in 2000.

During an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network in 2011, Gingrich said, “There’s no question at times in my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.” For many, this sounds far too like the half-hearted of apologies of other Washington insiders caught in scandal.

Conclusions

There is no doubt that Newt Gingrich has contributed richly to the political landscape of America. His grasp of history and policy are far above most in the field, and his experience eclipses anything our current President could possibly claim. Many of his plans are echoed by a wide array of other conservative contenders for public office.

At the same time, Gingrich has not been able to overcome the cloud of personal indiscretions that follow him. And, his latest gaff in weakening Paul Ryan’s attempts to make real changes in Washington have all but sealed his hopes for a real run in 2012. In the end, Newt Gingrich is a Neo-Con for whom the luster began to fade a long time ago.

Background

Willard Mitt Romney was born in 1947, the son of prominent Michigan auto executive George Romney. Like most young men in the LDS (Mormon) church, he served 2 ½ years as a missionary. Upon returning from his mission in France, he married his high school sweetheart, Ann Davies, and graduated as class valedictorian from Brigham Young University. From there Romney moved to Massachusetts and graduated from both Harvard Law and Harvard Business School with high honors.

Political Career

After a brief but successful career as a management consultant and then head of a private equity investment firm, Romney was ready to enter the world of politics. He won his first-ever bid for the Republican Senatorial candidate but had the dubious task of then running against longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy, one of the nation’s most famous liberals and an enormous force in state politics. The Kennedy campaign staff had no problem using a religious argument against Romney, which was ironic considering the vicious attack made on Jack Kennedy’s Catholicism when he ran for president in 1960. Though he ran a good campaign, the gap was far too wide to close and win the election.

Romney moved back to Utah in 1990 to assume leadership as the head of the organizing committee for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.  Though the Olympic effort had previously been plagued by scandal and financial problems, he was widely credited with the $100 million profit earned by the 2002 games, despite increased post-9/11 security costs.

By 2002 Mitt Romney had returned to Massachusetts to cash in on his business success by using his strong record of management expertise as a selling point in the 2002 gubernatorial election. He easily won the Republican primary and went on to defeat Democrat Shannon O’Brien by five points in the general election.

While governor, the state enacted a series of tax increases and rule changes, moving it from a $1.2 billion deficit to a $700 million surplus. During the same period, the Democratic state legislature moved state policy to the left, overturning innumerable vetoes. In the second year of his term, Governor Romney found his state at the center of major national controversy with the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the state. Romney was on record as opposing both gay marriage and civil unions but was forced to take center stage on the contentious issue. Since then, the governor has identified himself as a strong opponent of gay marriage but an equally vocal proponent of other civil rights for lesbians and homosexuals.

In 2006, Governor Romney made national news by signing the Massachusetts health reform law, the first statewide law mandating health insurance for all citizens and subsidizing the premiums of low income residence. This move has become a major sticking point among conservatives and libertarians and is consistently pointed to as an inconsistency when Romney attacks Obamacare.

With a long record of public office and an established web presence, Romney’s stances are a matter of common public record. Here is a synopsis of his platform as gleaned from his official campaign web site.

The Role of Government and Economic Issues

• Smaller Government – Calls for hard cap on federal spending and curtailment of the intrusive expansion of federal authority in order to provide businesses with the certainty and stability needed to make investments.
• Economic Competitiveness – To improve America’s competitiveness in the world market we must lower taxes on businesses, slash bureaucratic red tape, and place a hard cap on the impact that federal regulations can have on the economy and limit the harmful influence of union bosses on productive businesses.
• Free Trade On Fair Terms – Pushes for open markets on fair terms for our products and services around the world. Access to foreign markets is crucial to growing our economy.  America must reassert its leadership in international negotiations, follow through on commitments we have already made, and push aggressively for advantageous new agreements.
• Energy Security and Independence – To meet the challenge of achieving a secure and affordable supply of fuels, we need to lower the amount of energy we use and increase the supply of domestic energy sources. Government must be a partner, not an obstacle, in this effort. This involves facilitating the exploration and development of conventional fossil fuels, removing regulatory hurdles that prevent the construction of nuclear power plants, and address market failures that prevent the adoption of new technologies.
• Training and Preparing America’s Workers – Steps we must take to restart economic growth include expanding trade relationships, developing new sources of energy, eliminating ineffective government handouts, and providing workers the resources to develop valuable skills and make the transition to new types of work.
• End Deficit Spending – The only way to curb a further economic decline is to stop borrowing unhealthy sums to pay for what we already cannot afford. Federal spending must be capped.
• Entitlement Spending – Entitlement programs must be reformed to be kept solvent.

Health Care Reform

• ObamaCare - Repeal and replace President Obama’s health care law.
• State Leadership – Give states the responsibility, flexibility, and resources to act in their own interest in health care statutes. We should empower states to expand health care access to low-income Americans by block-granting funds for Medicaid and the uninsured. Empower states to help the chronically ill, to improve their access to care, and to improve the functioning of insurance markets for others.
• Tax Reform – Empower individuals to purchase their own insurance and expand the tax deduction to also include those who buy their own health insurance.
• Regulatory Reform – Focus federal regulation of health care on making markets work through limited federal regulation to correct common failures in insurance markets, while eliminating counterproductive federal rules. This includes allowing the purchase insurance across state lines, free from costly state benefit requirements. Individuals and small businesses should be allowed to form purchasing pools to lower insurance costs and improve choice.
• Medical Malpractice Reform – Cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice litigation and provide innovation grants to states for additional medical liability reforms, such as alternative dispute resolution or health care courts.
• Market Forces – Strengthen health savings accounts (HSAs), which help consumers save for health expenses and choose cost-effective insurance. Permit HSA funds to be used to pay for health insurance premiums.

Foreign Policy

• National Defense – Restore defense capabilities to ensure security at home and peace abroad. Modernize air and naval forces, weapons systems, and equipment. Grow the number of troops and ensure that funds go to their needs and care. Establish robust missile defense and repair and update our nuclear arsenal. Oppose any cuts to our military budget.
• Dynamic Diplomacy – Enhance America’s “soft power” to bolster our standing and influence by capitalizing on the appeal of liberty, free enterprise, and our historical generosity toward nations in need. This will attract allies—old and new—to the cause of liberty and peace.
• Steadfast Alliances – Revitalize alliances to meet common challenges. America’s strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. We must therefore be a resolute friend to our allies and honor our commitments to them. We should also fast-track NATO admission for our allies, bolster our support for Israel, establish a global military alliance of democracies dedicated to ensuring security and protecting freedom, and refrain from criticizing allies publicly and without consultation.

Conclusions

Romney has now made one major run for the Republican nomination and now is the definite front runner in the upcoming primaries. In spite of this, a number of questions still loom in the background of his presidential aspirations. Most of those questions center on belief (backed by some polls), suggesting that both evangelical Christians and the non-religious alike may find voting for a Mormon complicated.  There is also the widespread perception that Romney is really a moderate seeking to appeal to the conservative right to win the conservative-dominated GOP primary.

There is no doubt in these hard economic times that his track record as a businessman and budget-balancing governor are definitely in his favor. With his classical “presidential look,” winning smile, and spotless record as a family man, he makes a strong contrast with several of his competitors and remains the most traditional candidate running in a very traditional party.

However, there are some worrisome things about Mitt Romney. His platform is strong on rhetoric but sometimes perceived as weak on real substance. Many in the more conservative wing of the Republican Party see John McCain written all over his candidacy.  In a time when it seems people are looking for a reason to vote against President Obama, Romney may be just the ticket they are looking for. Or, too many may see him as more of the same and decide to go for a candidate who offers a clear contrast.

Biography

James Richard Perry was born in 1950 north of Abilene in the tiny town of Paint Creek, Texas. His father had been a tenant farmer and rancher who also served, as a Democrat, as county commissioner and a school board member. While attending Paint Creek High School, Perry achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, for which he was later honored with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

The first from his family to ever attend college, Perry graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 with a degree in animal science. After graduation he became a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, piloting C-130s in the Middle East and Europe. Upon fulfilling his commitment, Perry left the Air Force with the rank of captain to return to cotton farming with his father in Texas. Perry married Anita Thigpen in 1982, and they have two children, Griffin and Sydney.  A nursing graduate of West Texas State University, Perry’s wife has headed up numerous health care initiatives that focus on health education, nutrition, early childhood programming, and cardiovascular disease.

Political Career

Rick Perry’s first foray into the world of politics and public service was in 1978 when he was elected as a Democrat to the Texas State Board of Education. In 1985 he won election to the Texas House of Representatives and three years later switched parties. He has been a Republican ever since. In 1991, Perry became State Agriculture Commissioner, a position he held until 1999 when he became Lieutenant Governor under George W. Bush. When Bush resigned the governorship, Rick Perry became the 47^th Governor of Texas. From there he was elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. As a result, Perry is the only person to have ever been elected Governor of Texas for three terms.

From the day he took office as Governor in 2000, Rick Perry has proven to be a determined executive willing to take controversial stands in spite of vocal opposition from critics. The year after taking office, he had the distinction of vetoing more bills than any governor since reconstruction. Eighty two times he vetoed the Democrat dominated State Senate and House, proving he could forge a new direction based on the mandate of the voters.

Policies and Stands

With his impressive tenure as governor, Rick Perry’s views are a matter of public record and a fairly good gauge of the agenda he would have if elected president.  A synopsis of issues he championed and stands he took over the last decade include:

• Spending and Taxes – Faced with a record $10 billion budget shortfall in 2003, Perry became the first post-World War II Texas governor to sign a budget that lowered state spending. Using the power of the line item veto, Perry cut three billion dollars in proposed spending.
• Job Creation – More jobs were created in Texas that any other state in 2010 and over the past decade. Texas has consistently ranked as the nation’s best place to do business and create jobs since Perry assumed the helm of state government.
• Education – Perry fought for better schools through a combination of raising teacher’s pay by $2,000; a return to the basics of math, history, and science; and enforcing higher standards and greater accountability. Perry mandated 65% of every tax dollar be spent directly in the classroom and ordered all districts to make their financial records public for all taxpayers to see. Today Texas has the nation’s largest teacher performance pay program and is recognized as a leader in preparing students to graduate high school college- or career-ready. As a result of Perry’s leadership, students scores in Texas continue to rise and a record number graduate and enter college.
• Healthcare and Tort Reform – Under Perry, Texas has made enacted broad lawsuit reforms and closed the door on frivolous lawsuits. Because of this, both malpractice claims and premiums have fallen and physicians have applied in record numbers to practice medicine within the state.
• Border Security – Considering Texas has the single largest border with another country of any state in the nation, what the governor of that state enacts is bound to be noticed by the entire nation. As governor Perry has pushed for an aggressive border security strategy and significantly increased the resources necessary face the problem.
• Social Issues – Perry is a long time opponent of abortion and signed a bill that limits late-term abortions, requiring girls under the age of 18 to obtain parental consent to get an abortion. Governor Perry unwaveringly defines marriage as between a man and a woman and is a vocal opponent of gay marriage.

Controversies

No political leader that takes the open stands Rick Perry has escapes criticism. Libertarians and liberals alike take issue with his support for the subjects of creationism and intelligent design being taught in Texas schools, despite it being rejected by a federal court. Environmentalists have opposed him directly because of his rejection of the idea of man-made global warming.

Perry’s executive order that required every girl in Texas to get a costly Human papillomavirus vaccine before they could enter the sixth grade probably has received more scrutiny than anything else in his long career. When he issued the order, the drug company Merck had the only such vaccine that had been approved by the FDA. The decree drew national press attention, pointing out a $6000 contribution by the drug company to Perry’s campaign fund. Concerned families sued to block the order, and the executive order was rescinded a few months later.

Conclusions

No one can say Rick Perry is unwilling to tackle controversial issues. He has consistently affirmed states rights as guaranteed by the 10^th Amendment of the US Constitution. In an official press release in 2009 he said:

I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our State. That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the States’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our State from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.

In a much reported Tea Part event, Perry broached a subject few have been willing to publicly voice – the potential of future succession from the Union. When a reporter questioned him about this possibility Perry replied:

Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that… My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.

Though Rick Perry is often known for his stand on social issues like abortion and gay marriage, it is likely his accomplishments in the economic arena will have the greatest impact on elections, should he declare himself a candidate. Considering the continuing nose dive our economy is taking and our nation’s mounting debt, it will be hard for anyone to ignore what the sound fiscal policies of Governor Perry and the State of Texas have accomplished. The record speaks for itself and provides a model that other states can only envy.

Background

Representative Bachmann, born in 1956, is a graduate of Winona State University, Oral Roberts School of Law, and the College of William and Mary School of Law. She was an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service from 1988 until 1993, a position that led to her advocacy for a simplified tax code and tax payer rights. She and her husband reside in Stillwater, Minnesota, where they own a Christian counseling service with over 40 employees. With five children and 23 foster children along with her advocacy for foster and adoptive children, she also is a member of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Advisory Board.

Political Career

Bachmann’s political career began in the Minnesota State Senate, where she served from 2000-2006.  As a state senator, she championed a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.  Her experience working within the IRS led to her strong advocacy for simplification of the tax code and reduction of taxes on families and small businesses. In 2006 she was elected to represent the 6th Congressional District of Minnesota and was reelected in 2008.

Representative Bachmann began to move to national prominence as a voice for the Tea Party movement from within Congress. In 2010 she founded the House Tea Party Caucus and subsequently delivered the ‘Tea Party response’ to President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address. In that response she made the following powerful points:

• When Barack Obama became our president, unemployment was 7.8%, and our national debt stood at what seemed like a staggering $10.6 trillion… the President’s strategy for recovery was to spend a trillion dollars on a failed stimulus program, fueled by borrowed money. The White House promised us that all the spending would keep unemployment under 8%. Not only did that plan fail to deliver, but within three months, the national jobless rate spiked to 9.4%. It hasn’t been lower for 20 straight months. While the government grew, we lost more than 2 million jobs.
• Here’s a few suggestions for fixing our economy. The president could stop the EPA from imposing a job-destroying cap-and-trade system. The president could support a balanced budget amendment. The president could agree to an energy policy that increases American energy production and reduces our dependence on foreign oil.
• The president could also turn back some of the 132 regulations put in place in the last two years, many of which will cost our economy $100 million or more. And the president should repeal Obamacare and support free-market solutions, like medical malpractice reform and allowing all Americans to buy any health care policy they like anywhere in the United States.

This speech, along with her rational approach to reform, has earned her the label of a “reasoned reformer” among conservatives and a wide swath of independents and Republicans.  She is also known to be unafraid to buck her own party, as she did over TARP during the Bush Presidency. Finally, Bachman embraces bipartisanism when it makes sense, like in attempts to curtail earmark spending.

As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, she has been deeply involved in oversight of financial sectors including housing, real estate and banking. Because of her tenure on that committee, she has been a consistent opponent to the taxpayer-funded bailout of Wall Street. More recently Bachmann was appointed by House Speaker John Boehner to a position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, allowing for a role in overseeing the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community

Issues and Views: Climate Change

As a U.S. Representative, Michelle Bachmann has been a consistently vocal opponent of climate change legislation. As an opponent of Cap and Trade Legislation, she stated, “Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful…. We’re being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth.”

Domestic Oil and Gas Production

Bachmann is an advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf. After returning from a tour of ANWR, Bachmann emerged as one of the House’s most outspoken proponents for lifting the moratorium on oil and gas exploration there. She has championed a bill to open 200,000 acres of the Arctic reserve to oil drilling and establish a “Coastal Impact Aid” fund to protect surrounding native communities from any adverse impact.

Health Care/Obamacare

Bachmann has used her speech times in Congress to assail the President’s health care bill at every turn. Never shy to speak forcefully, she was quoted in 2009: “This cannot pass. What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t pass.” She has also offered positive and workable alternatives to health care reform including tort reform, insurance portability, health savings accounts, and an end to a multiplicity of state regulations that hinder private insurance companies from competing.

Environmental Protection Agency

Bachman is a longtime critic of the waste and intrusiveness of the EPA. In a recent debate she called the government agency the “job-killing organization of America.”

The Bottom Line

There is no doubt Michelle Bachman has the credentials to run for President. She has a solid private and public sector career track record and sits on two of the most important House Committees. The leftist media loves to attack her, which can only heighten her appeal to true conservatives. Some have called her the thinking man’s Sarah Palin. Whether that is fair to Palin or not, it certainly illustrates the position she has begun to assume in the conservative movement. The Washington Post and other national outlets declared her a clear winner in the recent New Hampshire Republican debate in spite of Romney’s lead in the polls.

Hard-core libertarians and liberals both see her as unacceptable. She is staunchly anti-abortion, and she is against American involvement in Libya but doesn’t follow Ron Paul’s isolationist tract either. Her response to a questioner at the New Hampshire debate, however, illustrated why Michelle Bachman is a force to be reckoned with. The questioner, a long-time Republican volunteer, worried Bachman would be too conservative for voters in the party like him. Her reply brought the longest single ovation of the night:

I’m the chairman of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives.  And what I’ve seen is unlike how the media has tried to wrongly and grossly portray the Tea Party, the Tea Party is really made up of disaffected Democrats, independents, people who’ve never been political a day in their life. People who are libertarians, Republicans.  It’s a wide swath of America coming together.  I think that’s why the left fears it so much.  Because they’re people who simply want to take the country back.  They want the country to work again.

And I think there’s no question …  this election will be about economics.  It will be about how will we create jobs, how will we turn the economy around, how will we have a pro-growth economy. That’s a great story for Republicans to tell.  President Obama can’t tell that story.  His report card right now has a big failing grade on it, but Republicans have an awesome story to tell. We need every one of us in a three-legged stool.  We need the peace through strength of Republicans, we need the fiscal conservatives, we need the social conservatives.  We need everybody to come together because we’re going to win.  Just make no mistake about it.

I want to announce tonight: President Obama is a one-term president.

Background

Herman Cain was born in Memphis, Tennessee, until his family moved to Georgia soon after. His grandparents on both sides were sharecroppers. When Cain’s parent left the farm together at the age of 18, they set into a motion a series of events that is typical in what is often called “the American Dream.” Cain’s father, Luther, eventually hired on as a full-time chauffeur and “right-hand man” for the son of the head of the Coca-Cola company, Robert W. Woodroff.

The Cains resided in a three-room rental in Atlanta until Luther drove them to a house he had bought with money he had been putting away for years. Cain and his brother both graduated from college, with Herman earning a bachelor’s degree in 1967 at Moorehouse College in mathematics. From there Cain went on to earn his master’s degree from Purdue University in computer science. While attending Purdue, he earned a living working for the U.S. Department of Navy.

Business Career

After earning his masters, Cain was employed by Coca-Cola as a business analyst. In 1977, just ten years after leaving Atlanta, Cain went to work for the Pillsbury Corporation, where by the mid-‘80s he had risen to the position of vice president. He later stepped outside from his position within the corporation to manage Burger King, one of Pillsbury’s subsidiaries.  That position called for his management of 400 stores in the greater Philadelphia area. During his tenure with Burger King, his region went from least to most profitable in the entire company.

Cain has a history of taking on difficult projects and succeeding. After Pillsbury appointed his president of Godfather’s Pizza, he realized the corporation was already in planning stages to declare bankruptcy for Godfathers. Within 14 months, Godfather’s was in the black and has remained in business.

Cain’s American dream culminated when he and a group of investors purchased Godfathers from Pillsbury. In 1996 he resigned Godfathers and took the head of the National Restaurant Association.

Political Career

Cain first showed up on the American political scene in 1994 while head of the National Restaurant Association. In a now famous exchange with then President Bill Clinton, Herman Cain challenged Clinton’s push for nationalized health care. At issue in that case was the “employer insurance mandate.” Cain questioned Clinton at a televised town hall meeting in Kansas City as to what the President would say to the workers that would be laid off because of the costs of the Clinton healthcare plan. When Clinton tried to assure his questioner that small businesses would receive subsidies to cover mandate costs, Cain responded, “Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate. In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn’t work that way.” Numerous political pundits have pointed to that exchange as the beginning of the end of the Clinton health care initiative.

In 2004 Cain ran for the Republican nomination for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat vacated by the Democrat, Zell Miller. He ran in the GOP primary against Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins, and finished second with 26% of the vote, compared to Isakson’s 53% and Collins 20%. After the primary he became the host of The Herman Cain show, a conservative talk show the source of much of his support today.

Among other things, some of the issues Cain advocates are:

• Free market enterprise
• Tax cuts for economic stimulus
• Spending cuts
• No abortion, even in the case of rape and incest
• Limited government
• Constitutionally defined liberties
• A Fair Tax and disseverment of the current tax code
• Tougher immigration laws and enforcement
• A domestic energy policy that ends OPEC domination
• No Muslims in his administration. Cain told  Laura Ingraham, “I want people in my administration that are committed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. I don’t want any inkling of anyone in my administration who would put Sharia law over American law. .. I am not making an over-generalization that there are not some Muslims who respect this country and its laws. If your religion happens to be Muslim and you respect the laws of this country, by way of the Constitution and all of the laws following that, I have absolutely no problem with people like that.” (Cain has since come forward to clarify his comments on this particular subject.)

The Federal Reserve

Exposure from the Kansas City town meeting of 1994 and other events led to Cain being offered a position on the board of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He was elected as Deputy Chairman (1992-4) and then Chairman (1995-6). While Cain appeals to conservatives in many ways, his stint with the Federal Reserve is an issue that concerns both conservative Republicans and Libertarians. However, the Kansas City Federal Reserve is one of the most conservative Reserve Banks, and his familiarity with the inner workings of the Reserve is also a plus in his favor. Especially when he advocates a return to the gold standard.

In a recent interview with Glenn Beck, Cain spoke candidly about his involvement with the Federal Reserve. In response to Beck’s question about his role with the Fed, Cain replied:

“I was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  As you know, there are twelve banks and they have their citizens board, and I got elected to the Fed Chairmanship for the Federal Reserve Kansas City Bank back in the mid-’90s.  It might have been 1995-’96.  This is when Alan Greenspan was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the governors out of Washington, D.C.”

“Yes, I was proud of the work of serving on that board for the following reasons.  That Federal Reserve didn’t do any of the stuff that this Federal Reserve is doing.  Secondly, Alan Greenspan never allowed the Fed to become politicized, and the other difference between today and then is that we didn’t have this $14 trillion debt to deal with and as a result, they didn’t have to deflate or inflate our currency the way this Federal Reserve board is doing it. So yes, I did serve on the board.”

Both in his interview with Glenn Beck and other venues, Cain has adamantly held there is no need for independent audits of the Federal Reserve. Cain continues to hold to the belief the Reserve is audited enough, and that those audits are available for the asking by the general public.  In spite of his otherwise conservative agenda, this is sure to a sticking point for many.

Conclusions

One commentator made the following observation:

Herman Cain is the dychotomy between the split in the Republican party over the past two years, where pro-business legislators come in opposition with anti-tax and anti-regulation conservatives.  Ron Paul represents the new breed of fiscal conservatives while Mr. Cain would be a stalwart of the establishment Republicans.

The business world in America is broken into two primary camps.  There is wall street, which represents corporate America, the banking cartels, and global commerce, and then there is Main Street, which represents the local business owner, and primary provider of employment in the U.S. Herman Cain represents the Wall Street side of the business world, and Ron Paul represents the Main Street division.

To me, this commentator misses the big picture. Far from being the darling of the Republican establishment, Cain is ignored and outcast. It’s as if the Republican leadership hopes he goes away. He is not one of them. He is a regular guy with business acumen and common sense. He knows how to delegate responsibility. The main quality of a good leader is that he is able to surround himself with people who know their jobs. Herman Cain’s business experience, and the outcomes of that experience, proves that this is indeed the case with him. Wall Street doesn’t own him and the Republican Party doesn’t control him. He is his own man.

I recently went back and watched Ronald Reagan’s address at the 1964 Republican Convention. Titled, A Time for Choosing, it has since simply come to be known as The Speech. Reagan, whose principles had been forged in an arena outside of the Washington Beltway, was a wildcard the Republican establishment loved to listen to as long as he stayed in his place. Though it took another 16 years before he forged a coalition of conservative Republicans, disaffected southern Democrats, and Independents to become president, The Speech is where it all started. When I watch Cain before an audience, speaking without a teleprompter, I sense the same electricity in the crowd as when the Gipper first popped up on the national scene.

Whether voters in primaries across the country decide Cain is one of them or more of the status quo remains to be seen. If Cain cannot gain traction because he is seen as a corporate and Wall Street insider, it will be hard to miss the irony. The grandson of sharecroppers, the son of a domestic worker and limo driver, the man who worked his way through graduate school might be undone because he succeeded too well. Only time will tell.

This week introduces a new section to our Political area. We will begin showcasing the candidates who have announced formal runs for the Republican primary. This will be a chance for our readers to weigh in on the pros and cons for each candidate. Please keep all comments respectable. Politics can be heated, but please maintain civility in the comments section please!

Ron Paul, U.S. Congressman from the 14th district of Texas, is a staunch proponent of limited constitutional government. His official biography describes him as a champion of low taxes, free market enterprise, and a return to sound monetary policies. Paul is so committed to never vote for legislation not expressly authorized by the Constitution that his voting record has earned him the title “Dr. No.” Ron was a practicing medical doctor for many years, a firm opponent of abortion, and an advocate for returning to the ideals and principles of the authors of the Constitution.

Background

Ron Paul was born in 1935 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He met and fell in love with his wife, Carol, while still in high school.  Paul’s higher education included a degree from Gettysburg College in 1957 and a medical degree from Duke University in 1961. Ron and Carol married during his last year at Gettysburg College and the two moved to Detroit after he graduated from Duke. During the height of the conflict in Vietnam, he was drafted by the Air Force and served as a flight surgeon from 1963-65 and in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968.

After his military service, Ron Paul and family settled in Texas where he specialized as a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology. By his own estimation, Paul delivered over 4,000 babies during his medical career, which extended on into his time as a member of Congress.

Political Career

Ron Paul became active in politics in the early ‘70s and made his first bid for Congress in 1974. Though he failed to win a seat that year, he was victorious two years later in a special election to replace resigning representative, Robert R. Casey. In that same year, 1976, he founded FREE, or the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education.  FREE describes itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan, educational foundation dedicated to public education on the principles of free-market economics, sound money and limited government.”

In 1978, Paul finally won a full term to Congress and was re-elected twice. During this time he immerged as a vocal critic of the country’s financial system, writing several seminal books that outlined his views of a sound constitutional economy and his opposition to abortion. Among those works he wrote Gold, Peace and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency; The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission; and Abortion and Liberty.

Paul was replaced in his congressional district by Tom DeLay after he lost a senatorial run against Phil Gramm in 1984.  He returned to his private medical practice for a short while before deciding to run in 1988 as the Libertarian Party candidate for president. Though he is often thought of as a natural for a Libertarian candidate, Paul caused problems for both conservatives and Libertarians. His strong anti-abortion platform and desire to limit taxes and reduce the size of government was attractive to both conservative Republicans and Libertarians, but his view on abortion legislation offended the latter group with their historic support for personal liberty and opposition to laws and other restrictions on the actions or lifestyles of individuals.

After a nearly ten-year absence from the national political scene, Paul came home to the Republican Party and defeated Greg Laughlin in a bitter primary in which everyone was against him except the voters. Since that victory in 1996, he has continued to serve the people of the 14th congressional district of Texas to the present. During this period no one has embraced and taken advantage of the power of the Internet more than Ron Paul. On November 5, 2007, a group of his supporters raised more than $4 million in one day for his campaign.

Paul’s unusual blend of Libertarian views and conservative Republican values, support from a diverse range of often disaffected voters, and track record of speaking his mind, continues to make him a difficult presidential candidate to pigeon-hole.

Platform

Having authored numerous books and with a long Congressional record, one doesn’t have to look far to know exactly what Ron Paul stands for. Some of the major accomplishments he highlights on his official web site include:

• Never voted to raise taxes.
• Never voted for an unbalanced budget.
• Never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
• Never voted to raise congressional pay.
• Never taken a government-paid junket.
• Never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
• Voted against the Patriot Act.
• Voted against regulating the Internet.
• Voted against the Iraq war.
• Does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
• Returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. Treasury every year.

Throughout his political career, Ron Paul has maintained an unwavering consistency on executive power, taxation, and pro-life issues. He voted against the Patriot Act and the Iraq war as opposed to most other Republicans.  It should be pointed out he does support the U.S. military action in Afghanistan. He has consistently voted against farm subsidies, Internet regulation, and other programs that expand the scope and spending of the federal government.

The issues where Paul most often finds himself at odds with mainstream Republicans is over his insistence on doing away with the Federal Reserve system and discontinuing the war on drugs. While many conservative desire a lessened role of centralized government and emphasis on state’s rights, they tend to be uncomfortable with the conclusions drawn by Paul and his followers. And, though many did not desire John McCain as their first or even second choice, they still smart from Paul’s decision to back Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin in 2008.

Conclusions

Congressman Paul is one of a few in Washington – he believes what he says. He has maintained a consistent and unwavering allegiance to the ideal and letter of the Constitution. Whether he is electable is another issue altogether. Many bristle at that term, but it is a political reality. Paul himself has proven to stand on principle even if it means helping pave the way for disastrous choices for president. Sometimes he is probably judged more by his followers than on his own merits. There is a decided anti-establishment bent among many in the rank and file of Ron Paul followers that disturbs more than just the neo-cons and establishment Republicans. Only time will tell if Paul can win over conservatives still unsure of his viability, in a run against a president who must not be allowed to have a second term.