The 2012 Republican Curse
With South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitting an extramarital affair, yet another potential candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination has fallen. Is there a curse for those who might pursue the nomination? Yes. I list some evidence below.
1. Sarah Palin. As if running on the doomed McCain/Palin ticket wasn’t enough, Sarah Palin has done everything she can to dig herself into a huge hole. She hasn’t even announced whether she will seek reelection in 2010. If you are skeptical of the curse that has befallen her, check some news websites. You are more likely to find a Palin story on an entertainment news website than on a legitimate news website. It’s debatable whether or not Palin EVER had a political future, as she seemed to sink McCain, but with the Republican curse on her, she surely won’t go much farther.
2. Mark Sanford. He was the crusader, held in high ideological esteem for setting his own term limits, being a straight arrow family man, and refusing to take some of the federal stimulus money. Then he went to Argentina to have an affair, put himself out of contact for 5 days (during which NO ONE knew where he was), and finally held a rambling news conference during which he seemed very much broken-hearted. “Baby, my sweet Argentine, I can’t see you any more. It might hurt my chances for the 2012 nomination!” During the press conference, he admitted to going to Argentina to cry for five days. If that’s not surefire evidence of a 2012 Republican curse, then I don’t know what is.
3. John Ensign. He had an affair with a campaign staffer and revealed the affair after it had been over for 10 months. Why? Speculation on the street is that he was being threatened with blackmail by the staffer’s husband. Oops! So, okay, he was a long-shot for the nomination, but at this point in time, there’s no real evidence that any Republican should WANT the nomination. So, if he wanted it, he might have had a chance, except for the dreaded curse!
4. Newt Gingrich. He’s been the nosiest of all potential nominees, appearing on a lot of talk shows and generally not making much sense. But what’s most amazing about Gingrich is that he showed evidence of the curse way back in the late ’90s. It was an idyllic time for Republicans. President Clinton was in trouble; he had been impeached and it was looking like Republicans might score some serious revenge for Nixon’s resignation. Gingrich was leading the moral way. That is, until his own affairs were revealed. Oops! In fact, Gingrich’s past is SOOOOO slimy, that I will not even bother summarizing it. Instead, I’ve posted a passage from Wikipedia at the bottom of this post. Tell me if it doesn’t make you nauseous.
In short, there most definitely IS a 2012 Republican curse. If you are a Republican thinking of seeking the nomination, or if you know someone who is, take heed of this curse! It threatens to bring down anyone who even thinks about running in 2012.
Gingrich has been married three times. He married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old (she was seven years his senior at 26 years old). They had two daughters and divorced in 1981. Jackie Battley Gingrich supported him through graduate school and two unsuccessful congressional campaigns. She had undergone uterine cancer surgery during the successful 1978 campaign, which Gingrich was not averse to mentioning in his speeches. Eighteen months later, they separated. While in the hospital recovering from another uterine operation, according to his friend Lee Howell, “”Newt came up there with his yellow legal pad, and he had a list of things on how the divorce was going to be handled. He wanted her to sign it. She was still recovering from surgery, still sort of ‘out of it,’ and he comes in with a yellow sheet of paper, handwritten, and wants her to sign it.” According to Howell, friends in her church had to raise money for the separated wife of the congressman and her daughters. Later, Jackie Battley Gingrich went to court for adequate support, before the divorce decree. In his financial statement, Gingrich reported providing $400 per month, plus $40 in allowances for his daughters. Gringrich claimed to be unable to afford more, but the same financial statement lists his expenditures for his food/dry cleaning etc. (one person) as $400.
In 1981, six months after his divorce was final, Gingrich wed Marianne Ginther. He remained married to Ginther until 2000, when they divorced. Shortly thereafter, Gingrich then married Callista Bisek, with whom he was conducting an extra-marital affair at approximately the same time he was leading the Congressional investigation into allegations that Bill Clinton lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
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