Republican primary candidate Newt Gingrich addresses Calvary Chapel in Newbury …
DEBATE WARM-UP—Former Speaker of the House and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks at Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park last Wednesday before participating in the Republican presidential candidates’ debate later that evening at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
TIMOTHY BOND/Special to The Acorn Republican primary hopeful Newt Gingrich addressed supporters at Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park last week, just hours before participating in the GOP presidential primary debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley.
The former Speaker of the House’s one-hour speech at the church on Sept. 7 was followed by a short question-and-answer session with the mostly conservative, religious audience.
The last-minute appearance, scheduled the day before, preceded a televised face-off among the eight Republican candidates vying for their party’s 2012 presidential nomination.
“I’ve done some events with him around the country,” the Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor at Calvary Chapel, said about Gingrich. “He was looking for a place to do a warm-up before the debates tonight. So we were asked (for a place) 24 hours ago.”
During the talk, Gingrich touted his accomplishments as a member of Congress from 1979 to 1999 and Speaker of the House for four years starting in 1995. He also criticized President Barack Obama’s leadership skills and listed his concerns about issues such as the economy and national security.
“The central question of the general election next year is going to be food stamps versus paychecks . . . almost 15 percent of the country is now on food stamps,” Gingrich said.
Concerning national security, Gingrich said the country is experiencing crises in its relationships with the Middle East and with Mexico and its drug war. He also questioned the country’s ability to compete with China and “other high-tech countries.”
“If we allow our education to keep decaying, if we allow our industrial base to keep decaying, we can’t possibly remain the No. 1 country,” he said.
