Newt Gingrich – Having his moment in the limelight but troubles lie in wait.

Looking at the race for the US Presidency from the other side of the pond, I think you get to look at the potential candidates with very much an even handed way. For one thing, I have no preference who eventually runs the most powerful country on planet earth. I have no “party bias”, indeed I think it should be down to who is the best man or woman for the job. There are caveats in my opinions though. When somebody runs for office who as part of a Republican lead House of Representatives years earlier shuts down Government and then tries unsuccessfully to remove a serving President from office (through him having an alleged affair) when his own marital record is none too successful, it does rather smack of hypocrisy, doesn’t it? I don’t know about your views, however that type of action in a potential President doesn’t hold quite right with me. The fact that Newt Gingrich now leads the GOP race to be the official challenger to Barack Obama does indeed surprise me. On looking at the astrology, Newt Gingrich is being favoured by the stars right now, but trap doors lay in his path to glory.

 

Newt Gingrich was born on 17th June 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the US. Louise Rodden gives an unconfirmed birth time of 11.45pm, rated by her DD so one should take the following analysis with a little care in it being a totally accurate portrayal of Newt. He is without doubt a sharp talking Gemini, with a philosophical Sagittarian Moon and an independently minded Aquarian ascendant. He is someone who is full of enthusiasm with 4 planets in air and 4 in fire signs and with 6 planets in mutual sign; this is a man who is very adaptable and probably hard to pin down. This view of mine is furthered by a t-square on his chart including Neptune squaring a Sun Moon opposition. Slippery he may be but he is also a man who came out of a broken family, his parents (who were just 16 & 19 years of age) separating when Newt was just 3 years of age. With Neptune involved in the t-square and affecting both Sun & Moon I would imagine alcohol abuse may have been a likely cause of the parental split (although at this point I must note that I have no proof of this). A close bond would have existed between Newt and his biological mother, who later met up with Newt’s step father Robert Gingrich. This is shown by the Nodal Axis in conjunction with his Aquarian ascendant. 

Being born under a new Moon, Newt’s need to be individualistic shown by the Sun (especially strong with an Aquarian Ascendant) runs at cross purposes with his emotional needs shown by the Moon. The fact that Neptune affects this opposition out of the 7th house of relationships shows that he will suffer in his search for partnership and emotional attachment. He has had two failed marriages already and now finally seems settled with Callista Bisek, his third wife. With the Sun in the 4th house conjunct to Saturn, Newt is an intensely private and sensitive man at home, and I suspect all the speculation over his private life in the past would have upset him enormously.

The Sun Moon combination shows that Newt through his Sagittarian Moon needs to have his opinions respected and he does this through his Gemini Sun in communication and debate. There is a lot of emphasis on Gemini on this chart. Not only do we find Sun and Saturn in Gemini, but also Mercury tightly conjunct to Uranus in Gemini in the 3rd house, a double dose of intense communicative ability. Have no doubt about it, Newt will have a very clever mind with a sharp acerbic way of speaking, and he will in debate be able to slice those slower and less intelligent than himself to ribbons. Mercury in the 3rd house is trine to Neptune again indicating a versatile and rather inventive mind, and is sextile to Pluto which shows great power of conviction and an ability of getting under the skin of any situation. Together with Uranus they make a mini grand trine formation. You know, this combination of planets  and their placement with Neptune in the 7th providing a slippery evasive tone and Pluto in the 6th showing a need to work ever so hard very much remind me very much of the classic door to door salesman who will turn up at your house and by the time he is finished, you end up having purchased a vacuum cleaner that works for all of a couple of weeks before it breaks down. You know what I mean? The Moon in the 10th shows that Newt is someone who does understand what the public wants yet needs to run his own agenda no matter what. Again I feel a conflict here, being able to communicate one thing while below the surface having differing needs. Uranus and Mercury in Gemini show a love of technology and an interest in the universe and space related things, a passion Newt has shown since his early years.

There is a second grouping of planets on his chart which needs consideration, those in the sixth house. Here we find Venus Pluto and Jupiter all in conjunction. Here is someone who cares deeply about health issues and this would be one focus area of policy that Newt would be passionate about. These planets also imply a willingness to get down and get one’s hands dirty. Jupiter in the 6th doesn’t mind doing the menial and repetitive tasks in life if it means the job gets done. Pluto here shows someone who can be difficult to work alongside. Along with the 10th house Moon, Newt will hate being subordinate to anyone and will use pretty much any tactics he feels are reasonable to get to the very top. Both Pluto and Venus trine to the Midheaven, so this is someone who would smile in your face and stab you in the back to get your position of power for himself. Such is the way in politics and Newt did get to become House Speaker, second only to the President in prestige in the US. Now he wants the top job. One final point. Venus and Jupiter in the 6th shows a real love for all living creatures, and it was not surprising to find in researching this article that Newt does have a love of animals and has expressed a desire to start his own zoo.

Finally I look at Mars in Aries in the 2nd house. This shows a very entrepreneurial spirit and a savvy go-ahead even reckless personal attitude to money making, although this is tempered by Mars’ sextile to steady Saturn. He will be serious about money controls (taxes) as well as being very pro-active when it comes to military action. This is something I would fear if Newt did ever become commander in chief. He would make George W Bush’s attitude to going ahead with military action look defensive. Mars in Aries goes in to battle often without thinking of the consequences.

So why has Newt rocketed to the top of the GOP standings in the past month? Looking at the transits, he has had transiting Saturn trine to his Sun boosting his personal position, transiting Uranus trine to Jupiter which gets all the luck going, and transiting Jupiter square to it’s own position (Jupiter rules his Midheaven and 11th houses) which I think translates as Newt being able to adapt his views to the prevailing situation just as the other candidates were to have their own problems. This Jupiter square has allowed him to look good just when he needed it.  I take great notice of the the transiting nodes and it is interesting to note that back in early November when the transiting South Node was over Newt’s Saturn (which is depressing), he was near the bottom of the pile tracking at about only 9% of Republican voter’s support. Since the Node moved away from exactitude, the effect of transiting Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter moved him up to the top. So what lies ahead? Newt I think will have a good run until Spring however around April, the problems may just appear. Transiting Neptune will start to square his Mercury/Uranus conjunction. Neptune is important as Pisces, Neptune’s sign lies intercepted in Newt’s first house. It’s movement’s affect him personally and of course his Ascendant is ruled by Uranus which does affect him in a similar manner. Also  in early May, we find transiting Mars squaring to his Mercury/Uranus conjunction as well as his Midheaven before going on quickly to square his natal Saturn. While all this is happening the transiting South Node will contact his natal Uranus. This is a time of unusual events and one can be especially accident or gaff prone. It may well be that a throw-away comment or mistake could upset someone and derail the Gingrich express at that point. If there is any time that Newt needs to watch his tongue, then May 2012 will be that time. Whether he as a chatty, compulsively driven Gemini can hold back his thoughts and opinions is another matter entirely.

On election day 2012, Newt does not have any transiting planets save Mercury connecting with any of the angles on his chart. As his birth time is uncertain, I cannot say for sure that he will not be successful on that day, however although mildly pleasant, there are no dramatic transits to show a change of direction in his career to say that Newt Gingrich will be assuming office as the 45th President of the US.  On progressions, the only aspect that the progressed Moon makes is a square to Mars which is quite tetchy, argumentative and accident prone. It may well be that he does well to get to the final 2 or 3 candidates in the race for the Republican nomination, but even if he does survive what is looking like a very bumpy spring, he may well be damaged enough to make a successful campaign unlikely.