DEAR EDITOR:



If I had Newt’s ear, I would say: “Wait a minute, Newt. You don’t sound like the same person you were when you started out in Georgia. You excited us then with your revolutionary ideas, the ‘fire in the belly,’ as another astute Georgian once put it. You gave us hope that some good change was possible and went on to prove it.

“We watched you as you talked about your ideas in your college classroom and thrilled to your Republican revolution in Congress and your election as Speaker of the House.

“When you resigned and came home we were disappointed, but said: ‘He’s earned some time off.’

“When you entered the current race, your heart did not seem to be in it. The ‘fire in the belly’ was missing. Your campaign team resigned, but you came back. You were still the ‘thinking Newt.’

“Now, with some adverse publicity, another part of your brain has engaged, and it doesn’t suit you.

“Stop and think what harm anger can do, not only to you, but to the country if this election is lost because the candidates are beating up on each other. Don’t do Obama’s work for him.

“Don’t destroy your best asset: that of a thinker and advisor.

“And ask yourself if your advisors are motivated by what is best for you and the country, or what they see for themselves by your success.”

Jewel Mashburn

Dallas