The National Journal is reporting that Gingrich is going to go unconventional after the caucuses close tonight. At first I thought that he might pick up a telephone and call Governor Romney to congratulate him. No. That would be a first and it would require true humility and grace. This NJ article has a couple of good links embedded.

Instead of the traditional election night party, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will hold a press conference after the Nevada Caucus on Saturday, raising new speculation about his future in the race.

Ever wonder why Gingrich is losing support and grassroots volunteers? It is no accident when a candidate does not get ballot certified in important primary states like Virginia (Gingrich’s home state) and Missouri. It is lack of organization and lack of focus. He touts “people power” (see his post Florida victory speech) as what will get him the nomination. He must think we are all dumb — Where do “endorsements” come from? Where does “infrastructure” come from? Where does a strong “organization” come from? Where do hundreds of thousands of “grassroots volunteers” in every state come from? Where does strong executive leadership come from? These are all huge strengths attributed to an outstanding leader: Mitt Romney.

Contrast these with what is reported by the National Journal:

Gingrich has had a rough time on the trail ahead of the Nevada Caucus, the first presidential contest in the West. Sources in or close to his campaign gave reporters incorrect information that Donald Trump would endorse Gingrich (he endorsed rival Mitt Romney). Gingrich also missed a meeting with the Silver State’s popular governor, Brian Sandoval, a Rick Perry supporter who was viewed as a possible Gingrich endorsement after Perry dropped out and endorsed the former House Speaker, according to The New York Times.

Who in their right mind would tell any reporter that he had any endorsement if he had not spoken to the person that was endorsing him? Who does such a thing? And Gingrich just keeps trudging along without embarrassment! The very best way to describe a person like Newt Gingrich is using the Spanish language. Gingrich is what is called a “sin verguenza.” Roughly translated means, a person that cares little about his behavior and how that behavior is perceived by those around him.

After the caucuses close, the NJ reports what is up with Gov. Romney:

Romney will be holding a more traditional election night party in Las Vegas. The former Massachusetts governor took 51 percent of the vote in the 2008 Nevada Caucus.

To be candid, Gingrich has reached the level of entertainment. His staying in the race is providing a great deal of entertainment value to a lot of people through the mainstream media. Though speculation might exist that he will drop from the race, I do not believe it for a second. Gingrich is too self-absorbed and too cornered to give up. His ego will not allow him ever to do the right thing (see Jayde’s GREAT post below called “NV Reps Amodei… for more insight into the character of Gingrich).

“I discourage a cult of personality.” — Newt Gingrich

It’s the big day!

As the Nevada caucuses get underway, Romney supporters are revved up and ready to vote in the first GOP contest in the WEST. Marking the fifth competition in the 2012 primary race, the NV GOP Party is hosting and caucuses are only open to registered Republicans.

With 28 delegates at stake, caucusing begins at various times across the state but most will happen between 9 AM and 3 PM Pacific Time. A 7 PM caucus will be held in Clark County to accommodate those who can’t participate in the day due to religious reasons.

Mitt Romney is polling very well in the Silver State (poll taken Feb 2, 2012):

Governor Romney made a quick campaign trip today to Colorado Springs to host an event at Springs Fabrication. He’ll be back in Nevada tonight to host a primary rally at the Summerlin Ballroom in the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas.

CNN is planning extensive coverage; read more here.

CNN livefeed possibilities may be found here and here.

For those interested in FOX News, Bret Baier will host a campaign edition of Special Report at 10 PM ET. A possible livefeed for FOX coverage may be found here.

C-Span Schedule:
10:40 PM ET LIVE Road to The White House Newt Gingrich, NV Republican Caucus
10 PM ET Venetian/Palazzo Congress Center, Las Vegas, NV

11:00 PM ET LIVE Road to The White House Mitt Romney, NV Republican Caucus
Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa, Las Vegas, NV

The following Twitter info has been posted on our chat box for a couple of days; it bears posting here:

Note: According to an email sent to reporters this morning, Newt Gingrich is foregoing the usual election night party tonight. Instead, he has scheduled a press conference. It was reported yesterday that Newt didn’t conduct his usual full schedule of events but spent time on the phone trying to raise money. He also met with his Super PAC sweethearts, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. Now, speculation is circulating about the purpose of the presser. By the way, his presser will be held in the Venetian hotel (run by Sheldon Adelson). Given Newt’s recent marveling about Donald Trump’s ability to create a media event (when Trump endorsed Romney), it looks like Gingrich is attempting to do the same.

Romney supporters are invited to join us on our chat box for caucus results.

Go Mitt!

► Jayde Wyatt

~Addendum from Ross
Despite the NVGOP stopping caucus results from leaking early, this is still the only situation that anyone will beat Mitt tonight.

Ahead of Nevada’s exciting caucuses today, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu and two Nevada Congressmen, Mark Amodei and Joe Heck, held a press conference call yesterday for Mitt Romney. The topic? Newt Gingrich Is An Unreliable Leader For Nevada.

To listen to audio of the entire call click here.

Highlights:

Gov John Sununu

Fmr NH Gov John Sununu

“Good afternoon. I guess it’s just about afternoon there too. So thank you all for joining us. I’m strongly supporting Governor Mitt Romney for president. I have a slight bias toward governors and former governors because they, I think, bring some experience of managing bureaucracies to the table and I think dealing with the legislative bodies in order to get what is often necessary, bipartisanship that is necessary to get legislation. I call it the ‘Ronald Reagan formula.’ I think Ronald Reagan was a great president because he had tremendous experience as Governor of California.

But beyond that, I am extremely concerned that Newt Gingrich, who is now the likely competitor in this primary process to Mitt Romney, is absolutely unreliable and frankly, from my direct experience, is untrustworthy. I’ve had to deal with the former Speaker Gingrich when I was chief of staff for the first President Bush and I found out that what Newt Gingrich would tell you in the morning he would probably change in the evening. Al Simpson put it very clearly in an interview with the Boston Globe; Newt Gingrich lied to the President of the United States. Peter King, current Congressman King, has made it clear that he doesn’t trust anything Newt Gingrich says. Senator Coburn from Oklahoma, former Congressman Susan Molinari, former Congressman Mickey Edwards, former Congressman Vin Weber, all these folks were part of his leadership team. And each one of them has, in their own way, has explained why they feel he is unreliable, both in terms of being erratic, both in terms of changing his mind on issues, both in terms of coming up with a contradictory idea the next day and finding him very incapable for staying focused on issues. Gingrich likes to talk about his big ideas. When Newt Gingrich talks about big ideas, I take ‘big’ as being a synonym for cockamamie because half the stuff he comes up with is unrealistic and undoable at a time when we’re dealing with huge budget deficits, when we are expressing concerns about $15 trillion, $16 trillion debt. He is talking about a trillion dollar program to go to the moon. There are appropriate times to have ideas that are new and different. This is not a time to spend a billion dollars going to the moon. Most of the ideas he has are designed to be self-aggrandizing. This is a man who cares more about his ego than he does about anything worthwhile for the country. And I am absolutely scared to death if someone says to me that this is a man who might win the nomination to run against Barack Obama.

I do want to touch on one item that former Speaker Gingrich raised at one of his meetings today. He played a video attacking Mitt Romney on the basis of a chance comment that Soros made in an interview. Soros was talking about people running for president and Soros suggested the similarity between Mitt Romney and the current incumbent in the White House. If I were Newt Gingrich, I would be self-sensitive to doing something affiliated to that because it would remind people that Newt Gingrich sat cheek-to-cheek with Nancy Pelosi in an ad that was funded by a group that Soros paid for. So in that sense, it was Soros’ money that put Gingrich on TV. And I think that is a clear definition and an underscoring of the fact that on issues like cap-and-trade, Newt Gingrich is not a conservative, certainly in throwing Paul Ryan under the bus as he did on the entitlement reform package that Paul Ryan talked about, Newt Gingrich is not a conservative, and frankly, Newt Gingrich’s principle philosophy is enhancing himself. I’ll stop there and let Joe and Mark have a few words here.”

Congressman Joe Heck

NV Rep Joe Heck

“Thanks Governor Sununu, this is Joe Heck. You know, I never worked directly with Speaker Gingrich, but I’ve heard a lot of things from former Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich, who remains a very respected conservative leader in Nevada. And Congresswoman Vucanovich described the Speaker as too arrogant and cocky to be our nominee. And to me that says a lot. I’ve been a supporter of Governor Romney for a long time and, in fact, I may have been the first elected official to endorse this election cycle. Why am I endorsing Governor Romney? Simple, on the economy and jobs, there’s just no other candidate with Governor Romney’s economic know-how and experience in the private sector for proven leadership. And in Nevada, which has suffered more than any other state under President Obama’s failed economic policies, Nevadans are looking for a leader with a plan to grow the economy and in my opinion, that leader is Governor Mitt Romney. Mark?”

Congressman Mark Amodei

NV Rep Mark Amodei

“Thanks Joe. I’m not going to repeat anything the Governor or Joe said, but I’m going to give you two more pieces of the puzzle that I think are important, specifically in Nevada. Nevadans have been treated to the politics of division for the last three years under the Obama administration. Heck and I can tell you whether it’s in this primary, there’s a lot of people expressing a lot of respect for the Governor on how he has used a lot of restraint until recent when he basically had to come out and point out some things. But Mitt Romney has demonstrated he understands governing is a team sport, and that means bringing people together, not slicing them up for sport. That’s number one. Number two, that’s of particular importance to Nevada, especially when you’re talking about comparisons. Mitt Romney went through the presidential process four years ago and continuing from then until present, he’s got a deep team in Nevada. What that translates to, when you talk about the problems that Joe talked about, economy, jobs, resources, all those sorts of things, he’s got a deep bench in Nevada so he’s well-informed and he’s taken the time to get himself well-informed and build those networks: both north, south and rural in the state of Nevada and that makes him unique in this race.”

The American Spectator’s R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. provides a perfect follow-up to yesterday’s conference call – specifically to Sununu’s comments:

“Exit Newt”

Read more…

If you were a contributor to the Gingrich campaign, how would you like to hear that your contribution was used to pay Mr. Gingrich for a list of supporters he already owned? Well,  that is exactly what was revealed when Gingrich filed his campaign finances with the Federal Elections Commission last week. Here is what reporters found as reported by Politico:

Newt Gingrich’s campaign paid him $47,000 for a list of supporters and paid one of his companies (Gingrich Productions) another $67,000 for web hosting, according to a report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Gingrich also paid himself another $206,000 for travel.

It’s unusual for a presidential candidate personally to be paid significant amounts for travel or lists — both because candidates can contribute an unlimited amount in cash or services to their own campaigns and because campaigns typically foot travel costs directly. And the Gingrich campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the payments.

I think it is sad that supporters would contribute their hard-earned money to Mr. Gingrich’s campaign only to find out that the contribution they gave was simply pocketed by Gingrich for goods and services already owned by Gingrich. It is also interesting to note that Gingrich is currently paying companies that he owns to do web hosting and other services, which Gingrich will also ultimately make a profit off of.

Gingrich’s unorthodox campaign continues to be more focused on benefitting Gingrich than anyone else. I have mentioned before that Gingrich has been criticized for devoting so much time to selling his books and DVD’s while on the campaign trail. The profits from these books and DVD’s do not go to the campaign, but to Mr. Gingrich personally. 

Gingrich continues to show a pattern of walking in the “grey areas” between what is legal and illegal. It is no wonder he has been in legal hot water before for his activities, and it appears that Gingrich will most likely be there again.

Click here for part I and part II of Gingrich’s questionable legal activities in the last few months.

UPDATE!!!

A lawsuit has been filed against Gingrich regarding the payment of the mailing list and Gingrich’s selling of books and DVD’s for personal gain. The lawsuit can be read here.

One Letter to the Editor in February 2nd edition of the Journal (by Jim Fini):

I couldn’t agree more with Donald Luskin (“Newt’s Bain Opportunism Is Mitt’s Opportunity,” op-ed, Jan. 17). As Mitt Romney has so aptly pointed out, the attacks he has endured for his ties to Bain Capital would be expected from President Obama and the Democrats but not from fellow Republicans.

Bain Capital invested in my company and helped me bring it from the basement of my house to a profitable enterprise employing 350 people in a few years. Not all companies are like Enservio, and most fail within the first couple of years of inception. Career politicians like Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama never mention such failures but rather focus on the few successes.

Even with the failure of companies in a typical investment portfolio, the net jobs and wealth created are most always higher than the negative capital and jobs lost. If this wasn’t true, investors would not continue to invest.

Furthermore, jobs are lost only temporarily as companies reform with new capital, more seasoned entrepreneurs and employees who are smarter than the last time. I am one of those entrepreneurs for whom failure was a requisite for success. It is this engine of creative destruction and rebirth that is a critical component of our country’s strength.

I love America and want it to remain the land of freedom and opportunity, but bashing companies like Bain Capital or people like Mitt Romney who support our country’s job-creation engine isn’t how to do it.

Jim Fini

President and Founder

Enservio Inc.

Needham, Mass.

[emphasis added]

From the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal (2/2/12):

Title: What Mitt Really Meant

Mitt Romney was a turnaround artist in business, which is in contrast to his artlessness when he departs from his political script. Today we’ll try to decode his latest adventure in spontaneous lingua franca, and if necessary we’re prepared to make this a long-running series right through November. Like Twain said of Wagner’s music, Mr. Romney is better than he sounds.

As everyone has by now heard, Mr. Romney celebrated his Florida primary victory Wednesday by offering a bouquet to President Obama’s re-election committee, declaring in a CNN interview that “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He then added, “We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I’ll fix it,” and then, “I’m not concerned about the very rich,” and then, “I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90%, 95% of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Asked to elaborate, he continued, awkwardly, “You can focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus. The middle-income Americans, they’re the folks that are really struggling right now and they need someone that can help get this economy going for them.” So Mr. Romney finally got to his real point, which was about economic growth, but the wait was—how to put it?—excruciating.

Democrats have responded by invoking Dickens at the blacking factory and

Read more…

For the last four days, I have been meaning to publish a short video clip of an interview I saw on CNN, the night of the Florida primary, after the polls had closed (trust me, this is NOT stale). Ever since I first saw Ralph Reed on television many years ago, I have always admired his intelligent, insightful political analysis. Anderson Cooper interviews Ralph Reed, who is President of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, seeking his expert insight as to why so many voters of faith chose Governor Romney that day in Florida. In my opinion, this two minute video clip is the best piece of video explaining why Governor Romney is on his way to becoming our next President of the United States. If you do nothing else today, please take 2 minutes to see this video clip! (thank you to a good friend for directing me that night to watch this interview):

PLEASE — PLEASE — PLEASE — WATCH: ***** RALPH REED Interviewed *****

A few of his better quotes:

“An across the board sweep!” — “He split the evangelical vote with Gingrich” — “He won the Catholic vote by 26 points with two Catholics on the ballot!” — “He won women by a huge margin!” — “Very impressive”

[by the way, the FOX election coverage did not even compare with CNN's coverage, which was the most professional overall election night coverage that I have seen in many years]

Many of you may be visiting this site for the first time to learn more about what makes this guy Mitt Romney tick. You may have heard him refer to our “Creator” a few times in his speeches, especially when referring to the source of American rights. Many people do not know that as Governor, he worked closely with leaders of many different synagogues, churches, and faiths. You may be wondering why so many evangelicals and Catholics are lining up to support and promote the candidacy of Governor Romney for President of the United States. What makes this guy tick?

FIRST TIME VISITORS TO MITT ROMNEY CENTRAL:

***** Read the courageous speech by Mark DeMoss: CLICK

***** An evangelical’s words to Mitt Romney skeptics: CLICK

***** Deep South evangelical’s journey to Mitt: CLICK

***** Moral authority lost by Gingrich (by evangelical): CLICK

***** Letter by 5 ambassadors to the Vatican about Romney: CLICK

***** The Window to Mitt Romney’s Soul (a woman): CLICK

***** Open letter to Evangelicals — by an Evangelical: CLICK

***** POWERFUL CNN article — Why Evangelicals should dump Gingrich: CLICK

***** What does Mitt do with his free time (he has some) to serve others?: CLICK

***** Book on why Evangelicals should back Romney (by Evangelicals): CLICK

***** Major affirmation of Romney’s pro-life credentials: CLICK

Would you like to keep up on all aspects of the Republican campaigns this year? I highly recommend that you take 10 seconds out right now and subscribe to MRC (it really takes only 10 seconds). Go to the top right corner of this website, find the T-shirts, look below the shirts box and you will see this question: “Want MRC Delivered to Your Inbox?” and just below that is a tiny box to type your email address. If you subscribe, you will only get one summary update a day and you WILL NOT receive any spam mail. Find out why so many people are talking about Mitt Romney Central and you too will soon be able to educate your friends on the race.

“When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the word of God, because you have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty.” — Woodrow T. Wilson (1856-1924) Twenty-eighth President

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To see some GREAT political cartoons by Michael Ramirez …………….
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Read more…

Ending months of suspense, from the glittering golden tower of Trump International Hotel on the Vegas strip, global business magnate Donald Trump has endorsed Mitt Romney…

“Mitt is tough. He’s smart. He’s sharp. He’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love.”

– Donald Trump

From the Romney Press office:

MITT ROMNEY ANNOUNCES SUPPORT OF DONALD TRUMP

Boston, MA – Mitt Romney today announced the support of Donald Trump. Mr. Trump joins a growing list of over 2,500 elected officials, leaders and activists from across the country who have endorsed Mitt Romney.

“I am humbled by the endorsements I have received from Republicans across the political spectrum. Donald Trump’s endorsement of me today sends a strong signal that he believes we have the best chance to make President Obama a one-term president,” said Mitt Romney. “We share both a background in the private sector and a belief that Washington needs to get out of the way of small business. His support is a sign that business leaders are fed up with Washington and want someone with actual experience creating jobs and working in the real economy in the White House.”

(emphasis added)

Donald Trump joins these public figures in endorsing Governor Romney:
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
Utah Governor Gary Herbert
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu
Former Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri
Former New Hampshire Governor and Senator Judd Gregg
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman
Senator John McCain (AZ)
Senator Kelly Ayotte (NH)
Senator Rob Portman (OH)
Senator John Thune (SD)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Senator Jim Risch (ID)
Senator Mark Kirk (IL)
Senator Roy Blunt (MO)
Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
Senator Richard Burr (NC)
Senator John Hoeven (ND)
Senator Mike Johanns (NE)
Senator Orrin Hatch (UT)
Congressman Darrell Issa (CA)
Congressman Connie Mack (FL)
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA)
Congressman Greg Walden (OR)
Congressman Jason Chaffetz (UT)
Congressman Jeff Flake (AZ)
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL)
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
Congressman Mark Amodei (NV)
Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX)
Congressman Charlie Bass (NH)
Congressman Aaron Schock (IL)
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne
Maine Attorney General William Schneider
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu
Conservative Leader Bay Buchanan
Conservative Leader Christine O’Donnell
Professor Mary Ann Glendon
Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems
Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard
Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants

With the alarming news today from the CBO, the real and urgent need for America’s business leaders to boldly fight their way to the front lines on Capitol Hill couldn’t be more clear. Good Ship America is sinking under the crippling cargo of burgeoning debt, harmful business regulations, heavy taxation, squandering of federal monies, crony capitalism, trade imbalances, dependence on foreign oil, and a growing entitlement mentality.

Obamanomics and anti-capitalist rhetoric, combined with class warfare, are tonnage that makes it almost impossible to come up for air.

Today’s endorsement from Donald Trump, whose name brand is known throughout the world, shines a spotlight on growing support for Romney from America’s job creators, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, small business owners, large industry leaders, venture capitalists, and more. It’s a call for all capitalist hands on deck.

Keep the American Dream alive.

Support Mitt Romney; donate to his one-term fund today!

*Speaking on Neil Cavuto’s FOX News TV program this afternoon, contributor Monica Crowley said “Newt would have walked over his grandmother’s grave for this endorsement.”

► Jayde Wyatt

After Newt’s team confirmed to the press last night that Donald Trump was endorsing the former Speaker, news comes today that they were mistaken – the Donald is endorsing Mitt.

Say what you will about the man, he happens to influence of a good chunk of people – a chunk that we may need to have on board to beat Obama. His endorsement as well as anyone else’s should be welcome – after all, we’re building bridges with all coalitions that will support our man, not fences.

From CBS News:

Donald Trump said Thursday he’s endorsing Mitt Romney because of his position on catching up to China’s economic growth and because he believes Romney can out-debate President Obama.

“You look at what’s going on with China, you look at what’s going on with the other OPEC nations and how they are absolutely destroying this country, and he’s the only one who talks about it,” Trump told a group of reporters at an impromptu news conference in Las Vegas. “So that was very important to me. I thought he did very well in the debates, that was very important… I think if he debates that well, I don’t think Obama will fare well against him.

Romney’s campaign is expected to formally unveil the endorsement at an event at 3:30 Eastern Time.

Update: In case you’re hungry for more, here’s Trump with Cavuto immediately after the presser.

In the 24 hour news cycle, the story of the day has been Mitt’s comments to CNN in the early morning after his Florida win. While I think even the most ardent Romney fan would admit that this could and should have (and will be) phrased more adeptly, the liberals have taken and run with the partial quote that he’s “not concerned with the very poor” … It looks worse in print that in the context of the interview:

Mitt cares deeply about the poor, and his actions speak louder than words. How many “journalists” have bothered to mention that Mitt has given over $7,000,000 (SEVEN FREAKING MILLION!) to charitable organizations in just the last two years? Records from before then show the Romney’s consistent giving millions upon millions to organizations that care for the poor. By contrast, Joe Biden gave only $3690 to charity in an entire decade … that’s PROOF of someone that doesn’t care about the poor. From 2001-4, the Obamas made nearly a million dollars, but donated LESS THAN 1% of that income to charity.

Or what about when Mitt gave cash out of his pocket to the lady in South Carolina who said God guided her to follow Romney’s campaign bus to find help to keep her lights on? The EXACT SAME CNN REPORTER (Soledad) even reported about that a couple of weeks ago … does she have no memory?

Mitt doesn’t care about poor people? Demonstrably false and easy to debunk (and this is without even delving into fact that Mitt, as a Mormon Bishop for several years, dedicated much of his time to caring for the poor in a very “hands on” fashion). If Obama and team push this theme it will come back to bite them. Mitt’s done more to care for the poor than any snarky reporter or any of his political rivals.

Recall Vic’s post from a couple days back that highlighted Romney’s life of service and included the following YouTube:

Additionally, Brit Hume on Fox News today adroitly argued that anyone who wants to “make hay” or be offended by this out-of-context quote wouldn’t be voting for a GOP candidate anyways. I’d have to agree.

I hope you will pardon my temporary departure from the normal fare of writing in this forum. Since the election of Barack Obama as President, I have watched closely his behavior and actions related to our service men and women in the armed forces. The office of the President of the United States carries with it the sacred duty of Commander-in-Chief under the U.S. Constitution. I harbor strong opinions about Obama who became President without any real leadership experience, but I will here stick to the facts related to his responsibility as commander-in-chief, as I have observed. Mr. Obama lost almost all of my respect following the raid to kill Bin Laden, but not because of its outcome.

The hunting and killing of Bin Laden was impressive, as was the rescue last week of Americans in Somalia by our special operations personnel. I credit the leadership of Admiral William H. McRaven and other service personnel with these successes over any leadership provided by Obama. As a boy, I grew up near the El Toro Marine base and I have lived most of my adult life near the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Camp Pendleton. Those who protect our nation are truly a special breed — I know them well. All of them serve with honor, dignity, and with a team mentality.

Every aspect of a military operation, especially those involving special operations personnel, can and should be kept strictly secret before, during, and after every mission. It is the responsibility of the commander-in-chief to prevent leaks of any kind that could endanger future missions. Obama broke that trust last year and I believe he is exploiting our service personnel to promote his political fortune by allowing details of highly classified military missions to be leaked. In my opinion, President Obama has broken a sacred trust that, in fact, has endangered the lives of many Americans who have spent years training to be the best of the best.

Yesterday, former Navy SEAL officer, Leif Babin wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal that is outstanding, titled “Obama Exploits the Navy SEALs.” In classic disciplined, military form, Mr. Babin’s writing is measured and muted, masking what I believe is disgust with the Obama administration. I am most grateful to Mr. Babin for his service to my country and my family and for his courage to write this article and articulate what I have felt for so long:

America’s premier Special Operations force is once again in the headlines after a team of Navy SEALs rescued two hostages from captivity in Somalia last week. Elite U.S. forces have carried out such operations periodically over the past decade, always with skill and bravery. The difference in recent months is that the details of their work haven’t remained secret. On the contrary, government officials have revealed them for political gain—endangering our forces in the process.

The floodgates opened after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last May, and the Obama administration’s lack of discretion was on display again at last week’s State of the Union address. As President Obama entered the House chamber, in full view of the cameras, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and exclaimed: “Good job tonight, good job tonight.” Clearly something had happened that he wanted the world to know about.

There was no hesitation by the Obama administration to publicly expose details of this latest operation, as with the Bin Laden mission:

Sure enough, shortly thereafter, the White House announced the successful rescue of the hostages in Somalia by U.S. Special Operations forces. Vice President Biden appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to highlight the success the next morning, and Mr. Panetta also publicly praised it. Then came the “anonymous U.S. officials” to provide extensive details of who conducted the raid and how. As with the bin Laden operation, the top-secret unit that carried it out was again front-page news, as were its methods and tactics.

Our special operators do not welcome this publicity. In fact, from conversations I’ve had in recent days, it’s clear they are dismayed by it.

To save space, I am editing out much of this outstanding article by Mr. Babin.

It’s difficult for military leaders to enforce strict standards of operational security on their personnel while the most senior political leadership is flooding the airwaves with secrets. The release of classified information has also opened a Pandora’s box of former and retired SEALs, special operators, and military personnel who have chosen to violate their non-disclosure agreements and discuss intricate details of how such operations are planned and executed.

We’ve already begun seeing specific examples of strategic harm from the post-bin Laden leaks. In June, Pakistan arrested several individuals who allegedly provided information to the CIA in advance of the raid. One of those charged with treason was a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi. This Sunday, Mr. Panetta confirmed to “60 Minutes” that Dr. Afridi had provided “very helpful” intelligence to the CIA. That may have condemned Dr. Afridi to death or life imprisonment.

Such disclosures are catastrophic to U.S. intelligence networks, which often take years to develop.

Proof of the complete disregard of honored military discipline as commander-in-chief (vis-a-vis Obama’s staff):

A week after the bin Laden raid, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed dismay about Washington’s loose lips, telling a town hall meeting of U.S. Marines at Camp Lejeune: “Frankly, a week ago Sunday, in the Situation Room, we all agreed that we would not release any operational details from the effort to take out bin Laden. That all fell apart on Monday—the next day.”

Do the president and his top political advisers understand what’s at stake for the special-operations forces who carry out these dangerous operations, or the long-term strategic consequences of divulging information about our most highly classified military assets and intelligence capabilities? It is infuriating to see political gain put above the safety and security of our brave warriors and our long-term strategic goals. Loose lips sink ships.

[emphasis added]

It is difficult for me to express how upset I am with the current occupant of the White House and his administration. He has within his power of authority to maintain strict secrecy of every aspect of any and all classified military operations. The fact that he allows details of select missions to leak out and then expresses no concern whatsoever at their disclosure is nothing short of despicable. Not only does the man lack any real leadership ability or experience, he has broken the sacred trust of all Americans.

President Obama is responsible — for this alone in my opinion, President Obama must be soundly defeated this year and he must relinquish his duty as our commander-in-chief.

Thank you to Mr. Babin for your service to our nation.

“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” — Colin Powell

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