Our morning event featuring Newt Gingrich is one of those things that made a deep impression on me: I’ve been thinking since on how really unserious our current political debate is. That’s one of Newt’s themes (our chairman of the board Heather Higgins pointed out that Newt is one of those people who is famous enough to be known by his first name).
The American Spectator’s Philip Klein, who attended the event, picked up on the same theme:
“Speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday morning to a group of about 50 to 60 at an event sponsored by the Independent Women’s Forum, Gingrich reiterated his call to use the coming election as an opportunity to have an intelligent national discussion about differing visions for the country’s future.
“‘We are faced with more challenges in the next 20 years than any time since the Civil War,’ Gingrich said, citing immigration, defining the role of God in public life, dealing with the aging Baby Boomer population, and confronting the threat of radical Islam. ‘And yet it’s clear that our political system is utterly and totally incapable of serious conversation.'”
“Gingrich cited the recent 1984-themed YouTube ad attacking Hillary Clinton as an example of the destructive atmosphere. ‘There is not a single thing in that commercial that enables America to solve a problem….It’s the ‘Entertainment Tonight’ version of governing a great land. It’s very dangerous.’
“As an antidote, Gingrich has challenged the presidential candidates in both parties to agree to a series of weekly 90-minute dialogues from Labor Day to Election Day 2008 between the Republican and Democratic nominees, without a moderator, discussing competing ideas for solving America’s problems.
“The inability to have an intelligent dialogue has hindered our ability to recognize the national security threats we face, he said, because ‘the right to hate George W. Bush is a vastly more important right than the necessity to defeat terrorism.'”
Get serious. Read the whole article.
Gingrich reiterated his call to use the coming election as an opportunity to have an intelligent national discussion about differing visions for the country’s future.“‘We are faced with more challenges in the next 20 years than any time since the Civil War,’ Gingrich said, citing immigration, defining the role of God in public life, dealing with the aging Baby Boomer population, and confronting the threat of radical Islam. ‘And yet it’s clear that our political system is utterly and totally incapable of serious conversation.'”
“Gingrich cited the recent 1984-themed YouTube ad attacking Hillary Clinton as an example of the destructive atmosphere. ‘There is not a single thing in that commercial that enables America to solve a problem….It’s the ‘Entertainment Tonight’ version of governing a great land. It’s very dangerous.’
“As an antidote, Gingrich has challenged the presidential candidates in both parties to agree to a series of weekly 90-minute dialogues from Labor Day to Election Day 2008 between the Republican and Democratic nominees, without a moderator, discussing competing ideas for solving America’s problems.
“The inability to have an intelligent dialogue has hindered our ability to recognize the national security threats we face, he said, because ‘the right to hate George W. Bush is a vastly more important right than the necessity to defeat terrorism.'”
Get serious. Read the whole article.