Gingrich’s speech lacked details, support

Kristi Camara/The Beacon

By: Neda Ghomeshi / Opinion Editor

On Jan. 25, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich visited our University to speak with students, alumni and the Miami community.

After a 45 minute wait, he spoke for 25 minutes. During his campaign speech, he focused on President Barack Obama’s lack of attention on Latin American politics and the overload of attention on the Arab Spring.

He also reiterated his perspective on Obama’s poor performance over the past four years, but failed to present specific examples. His short presence  and lofty comments left a bad impression on me.

Congressman Dan Burton introduced Newt Gingrich  to the audience.  During his introduction, Burton stated that  “Gingrich is a great fighter for a free Cuba,”  without providing specifics.

All throughout his speech, Gingrich was reassuring his Cuban fan base that as President, he would dedicate his time and energy to assuring that  the Cuban dictatorship is out.

He said, “There will not be a succession to Castro. We will not allow a new future of dictators for Cuba.” Even though execution plans of removing Castro were not mentioned, the primarily Cuban audience ecstatically applauded.
According to Gingrich, President Obama has allocated too much of his time and available resources to the Arab Spring.

He said, “We spend more energy on Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan than we do in Latin America.” Gingrich disregarded the fact that the Arab Spring is a threat to American foreign policy and cannot be neglected.

Gingrich was trying to convince his audience that Obama’s foreign strategies are flawed, yet his reasons were insufficient  and lacked details.  A president’s role in managing foreign crisis is more to  ensure  that  they are handled carefully and efficiently, and are not ignored or mishandled.

Providing a lofty list of to-dos without articulating how they will be done is characteristic of a campaign and insufficient to attract my vote.  I expected more details from Gingrich who is very articulate than just a list of lofty ideas tailored to solicit short-lived applause.

Burton claimed that Obama is a socialist, however, he was unable to provide specific examples to support this claim. Regardless, the audience, which is filled with voters against socialism, was pleased and comforted to hear Gingrich’s team was opposed to socialism.

Gingrich’s non-motivational speech was discouraging. His foreign policy suggestions were ambitious, but unrealistic and flawed.  Lacking in detail, his speech was meant more to create applause than to lift the audience.  Some of his ideals were naive, although, they seemed calculated. His overall presentation reassured me that I will not be voting for him.