According to a report by Paul Rolly of the Salt Lake Tribune, Republican presidential candidate/grifter Newt Gingrich may not be on the ballot for the Utah presidential primary election after a $500 check to written to pay the fee to qualify as a candidate bounced.
Utah Elections Director Mark Thomas said a designated agent for the Gingrich campaign brought the filing papers and a check for $500 in March, but the state was notified by the bank that the check had bounced.
I understand that Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign is on its last legs, but the fact that his campaign bounced a check for $500 to get him on the ballot in Utah speaks volumes about the type of president Gingrich would have been – fiscally irresponsible and lacking in good judgment.
The conclusion of the article couldn’t be more wrong. None of the GOP candidates’ campaigns are failing for financial reasons. The author simply is incapable of understanding how the ultra-wealthy live.
I’m reminded of the parable about the child who asks his wealthy grandfather how he became so wealthy. In the parable the grandfather answers “I’ll tell you in the dark after I blow this candle out.” And then the grandchild instantly realizes by that singular action that the key to wealth is thrift. The parable is complete nonsense, of course. Common sense dictates that it takes wealth to have a candle in the first place, but that’s beside the point.
The way it applies to the GOP primary is that none of these wealthy men are willing to indulge their lust for power by spending their own money. And while Conservatives have a vested interest in conserving their own money, they have proven time and time again to be very poor stewards of other people’s money. That’s true for taxpayer dollars, so it follows that it can also be true for campaign donations. To be fair, practically all recent campaigns have gotten remarkably comfortable with spending money Cold War arms race style and going to the well more and more often to replenish their coffers.
What we’re seeing when Newt runs up a half-million dollar tab at Tiffany’s, then bounces a $500 check, or when Mitt makes $10,000 bets without thinking is the fact that what most of us see as a considerable amount of money is not seen as worthy of much if any real consideration by the ultra-rich.
If Newt has even bothered to take a minute off from enjoying his luxury lifestyle to check on his campaign and become aware of the fact, his reaction probably was probably to relate his employee for not covering the check with the employee’s personal funds. I seriously doubt that Newt still has the capacity to imagine how working people rely on a steady paycheck to pay for the basics in life, never mind how much $500 means to a low-level lackey.
IMHO the rash of registration gaffes by many of the candidates is indicative of just how casual they are about earning America’s ultimate job title.
Memory Man: good comment; tiny tweak —
“… his reaction probably was probably to relate his employee for not covering the check….”
“Relate” would probably make a marvelous portmanteau of “Rebuke” + “Rail at” + “Berate” — if it were not already reserved for other uses.
Sounds good to me, Raven! I think that we need to find more words to describe the outrageous behavior of GOPs.