Answer The Question, Newt

The other day, CNN news man John King began a Republican debate by asking Newt Gingrich if he wanted to comment on his ex wife's claim that he wanted to maintain an open marriage. Newt's reply, in which chastised King and the media for asking such a question, drew loud applause and eventually a standing ovation. It's too bad he did not answer the question.

Thanks to the lies and indiscretions of Bill Clinton, questions like the one asked by John King to candidates with a checkered past personal life, like Gingrich, are fair game if you are running for public office.

Newt's response would have been a proper one had this been 1992 and he was being asked what kind of underwear he wore as was the case with Bill Clinton. However, when a candidate for president is on his third marriage and his current wife was the congressional staffer he had an affair with while married to his second wife, Americans are entitled to ask questions about the fitness of his personal life, past or present.

Candidates with questionable past financial dealings or voting records are asked and expected to explain themselves when they run for office so there is no reason one with a questionable past personal life should be excluded. Bill Clinton was hounded by the media over these matters as was Herm Cain, who recently dropped out of the primary process as a result.

These are difficult and challenging times for this nation and there is nothing wrong with voters wanting a leader they can be assured is not going to conduct himself in a manner that will adversely affect his ability to lead. George W. Bush was asked about his past drinking problems and Ted Kennedy never escaped questions about Chappaquiddick. To ask a candidate whose second wife claims he wanted to maintain an open marriage to explain himself is perfectly fair.

What's more troubling, Newt did not provide an answer, only a commentary about the media. If indeed Newt wanted an open marriage, he should admit it rather than hide behind a rehearsed response aimed to garner the vote of Christian conservatives. By simply telling us he has returned to his Christian roots is not an answer. Newt wants and needs the support of conservative Christians if he is going to have any shot of defeating Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination so it becomes easy for him to tell people about how he has grown closer to God rather than telling him he was once an adulterous male who wanted to have his cake and eat it.

However, Newt did not have this relationship with God when he was speaker of the house. His ethics were called into question and he eventually was voted out of office only to cash in as a well paid consultant to major lobbyists. If he is elected as our next president, many will wonder how he will handle the trappings of power that come with being the most powerful person in the world. Whoever our next president is, Americans deserve knowing we have a leader who will not embarrass the office or the nation because power went to his head.

Nothing about President Obama's past would indicate such a question should be asked of him. The same is true with Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. However, this is not the case with Newt Gingrich and he needs to be held accountable for failing to provide voters with an honest answer to a fair question.