YDU Supports Gingrich for the Republican Presidential Nomination

Utah has a fairly recent and cozy relationship with Republican presidential frontrunner, Mr. Mitt Romney. Despite his apparent “change of heart” on issues such as abortion, universal healthcare and individual mandate,  bailouts, gun law, etc. (Do I really need to write the whole list?!) Romney will forever be in the minds of Utahns, the mastermind who brought the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City.  He also happens to be Mormon and therefore enjoys probably the largest support base of Republicans here in Utah.  Romney is so consciously aware of this fact that he even tried to get the Utah Primary moved to claim an early defeat against the only other Mormon in the race, Jon Huntsman, who Romney was ahead of in the Utah polls, by a landslide.

It is this blind allegiance to Romney by Utahns that have prompted the Young Democrats of Utah to officially endorse Newt Gingrich for the Republican Presidential nomination.  Not only is Gingrich not tied to this state, his tendency to make headlining gaffs when he feels he is ahead of the pack along with his penchant for off-the-cuff extremist policy solutions to real problems begs us as Democrats to support the one person who is sure to not only loose a general election, but will also possibly have local Republicans questioning their party loyalty.

Gingrich not only has a long public record which is sure to be scrutinized by the general public, his extremist positions, while popular with the Tea Party crowd, may not be so appealing to the general voting electorate. For example, his recent inference that Child Labor laws are “stupid” to his support of Presidential authority to dismiss any Supreme Court Justice he so desires (Isn’t that just another form of packing the court?).

Of course, there is also the question of the women vote which, previous and now fallen social conservative frontrunner, Herman Cain seemed to so easily dismiss with his refusal to acknowledge or address accusations of sexual harassment and infidelity. Gingrich on the other hand has a more complicated and sometimes all-but-forgotten problem with infidelity which can only serve Obama when he goes after his previous women supports, which may be wavering. Gingrich can hardly be empathized with once women remember how he divorced his wife, while she was laying cancer stricken in the hospital, to marry his mistress.  Romney on the other hand, can sometimes be perceived as dishonest due to his perceived pandering, which many analysts believe could turn off potential women voters, but that attack takes a more nuanced approach which can be difficult to resonate with such unwavering Utah supporters.

Finally, Newt Gingrich’s apparently imminent campaign implosion, should he make it through the primaries, will almost assuredly find him lagging behind Obama in fundraising and organization.

So go ahead Iowa and New Hampshire, take a chance on OUR MAN, Newt.  He’s at least sure to make the race fun to watch (if you’re not cringing the whole time).