Protecting the Down-Ballot

The presidential campaign has been nothing much more than a reality tv drama for the last ten days - and Newt Gingrich is Snookie.  Listen, I'm the first to defend my neighbors to the South in New Jersey for getting a bad rap over the shockilngly shallow and downright poor human behavior exhibited on the Jersey Shore. I hate the show but then again, none of those folks are running for president of the united states.  The fact of the matter is the personal attacks on Gingrich's character and his relationships both personal and professional are working.  Evangelicals and conservatives who have rightly championed high moral and ethical standards for those who seek office would be hypocritcal and irresponsible to throw principle out the window all because they're upset that Mitt Romney isn't the second coming of Ronald Reagan.  The Presidency is about character.  Leadership is about character. The governing process is about character. 

Character matters to voters and not just Christian conservatives.  It matters to enough folks that should the campaign become a lineup of all the people who can't stand Newt Gingrich, it will impact the thousands of down-ballot races across the country this year that the GOP need to win.  The goal here isn't to just win the White House.  It's to move the country to the right and back off the cliff of debt, spending and overtaxation.  The only way to do that is to ensure independents are given a real choice.  A campaign clouded with personal character attacks will make the President seem bigger, stronger and more amiable.  It will stunt GOP turnout and throw swing voters back to Obama. 

People want this campaign to be about jobs, the economy, spending and competitveness - Not a soap opera about torrid love affairs and DC beltway dirt.  More than one race will be decided by our choice to lead the ticket.  That choice should be clear to those who understand the big picture and what we really need to accomplish.