OK we had a "Compassionate Conservative", with President Bush for 8 years and saw the results of that. Is it now time to experiment with a "Passionate Conservative"?

Our compassionate conservative president seemed to have a big heart when it came to increasing government size and programs, which resulted in increasing our debt. Of course a lot of this was done under the guise of having been attacked on 911, national defense, gearing up with TSA, etc.

Perhaps President Bush thought he could get a consensus of people behind him by using "compassion" as a campaign slogan?

The Bush Presidency lead to Obamas "Hope and Change". This has brought us government debt and spending on steroids and an ever larger and more intrusive government. Even though "Hope and Change" was done under the guise of middle of the road leanings, looking through the rear view mirror it is plain to see that we have been thrust very left by this President.

So is America ready for a "Passionate Conservative" as President?

Newt Gingrich has been making the rounds of the talk shows and doing all of the "right" things in order to lay the groundwork for a run at the Presidency. But one of the main sticking points on the Gingrich resume' was his unfaithfulness while married to wives 1-2.

Gingrich himself claimed in an oblique sort of way that his passion for his country lead him to passion in other areas of his life...Er, OK. But maybe if you just spoke plainly, admitted you were a cad and didn't try to dress it up as some sort of patriotism, it would have sat better with the rest of us.

The bottom line is that Gingrich is a brilliant historian as well as a policy wonk, who knows how to balance a budget and with his razor keen wit, would be a formidable opponent in any debate. His brilliance would lead the country out of the mess we are in.

If he was a liberal, the philandering wouldn't even create a yawn in the press or his electorate.

But Gingrich is a conservative and in the eyes of the main stream media he will be judged by a higher standard.

As Bill Clinton summed it up when one of his political appointees was under fire: "character doesn't matter, what matters, is can he do the job"

It will be interesting to see if America is ready for a passionate conservative as their next leader.