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Breaking: Gingrich replaces campaign manager, lays off 1/3 of staff — to focus on the convention
Hotair ^ | 03/27/2012 | AllahPundit

Posted on 03/27/2012 8:15:26 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Clearly it's his campaign manager and the staff who are the problem.

Alternate headline: “Gingrich finally approaching the fifth stage of grief.”

It’s largely a strategy of necessity: The former House Speaker is a distant third in delegates, behind Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. His campaign-finance report for February, released last week, showed more debt ($1.55 million) than cash on hand ($1.54 million).

DeSantis said the former Speaker will continue to visit states with primaries, but will have a less intense campaign schedule. DeSantis promised that the campaign will be “more positive and ideas-focused,” eschewing attacks on Republican rivals. The aide said the campaign will be more digital, focusing on low-cost communications tools, including informational videos, social media and the web…

DeSantis elaborated on the announcement in an email: “Newt 2012 is transitioning into an organization appropriate for winning a big choice convention. This big choice convention phase will be focused on two goals. 1. Affecting the national dialogue to show that Gingrich is the most capable of defeating Obama, by leading on issues that put the president on defense – like Newt’s $2.50 Gas Plan; and 2. A parallel communications strategy directly to the delegates…

“Furthermore, the fact is the more than a million more people have voted against Mitt Romney than for him. We believe that if Governor Romney is unable to secure 1144 by the last primaries, he will be unable to do so at the convention where the vast majority of the delegates are conservative. That creates and environment at the convention where Gingrich can emerge as the one candidate who can unite social, economic and national security conservatives (a fact which is borne out by polling).”

Like I said in the earlier Gingrich post, that last paragraph is pure fantasy. If you’ve reached the point in a convention floor fight where, for whatever reason, both Romney and Santorum are deemed unacceptable, why wouldn’t you roll the dice on a dark horse outsider? You’re much better off with someone like Christie or Paul Ryan who’s young, appealing, superb on the seminal issue of fiscal reform, and yet to have their national image defined than you are with High-Negatives Newt. Passing over the guy with the most delegates and the guy with the second-most delegates means you’re thinking way out of the box on the nomination, which means there’s no reason to limit your choice to the people who are running. Although I guess choosing someone who hasn’t held elective office since the 90s and who can’t seem to win anywhere except his home state and the state next door would qualify as “way out of the box.” Way, way out.

I don’t know, guys. I’m starting to think maybe he really believes in this ludicrous convention idea. What other explanation is there? Exit question: Why on earth would he cite Romney’s vote total as relevant to the delegates’ calculus when Newt himself is much closer to Ron Paul’s total than to Romney’s?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: brokeredconvention; gingrich; ideasvsideology; newt; newt2012; newtcampaignstaff; santorum; santorumfanatics; santorumzombies; sourgingrichgrapes; teaparty4newt
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To: JediJones

The super-delegates are controlled by the party poobahs. They will NEVER turn to Gingrich and Gingrich himself knows it. He is unelectable. Period. Scoring 6%, 5% of own’s own primary votes is not re-assuring. Besides as everyone knows he has baggage that will sink a fleet of cruise ships. Primary contests do matter. There will not be a brokered convention. It’s gonna be Santorum or Romney, and unless Santorum can pull of a WI win, his momentum is sapped and Romney it will be.


101 posted on 03/28/2012 8:54:01 AM PDT by Steelfish (ui)
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To: Strategerist

Matchup polls this far out from a November presidential election are USELESS. By your logic we should all concede the election right now since Obama has been ahead against all the candidates in virtually every poll. All it would take is for Newt to have one debate with Obama and we’d get the kind of bump Palin gave to the McCain ticket. Santorum will stutter and stammer and lose every debate badly, looking like an intellectual featherweight.

After a Romney-Obama debate, people will be scratching their heads wondering what the difference is between the two of them. And we’ll all be counting how many times Romney says Obama is a good man and a good president who he acknowledges a lot of people like and who he respects and admires but just has just a couple suggestions for him that he maybe might want to think about if he doesn’t mind and if he’s not too busy. There’s a reason Romney has said far worse and meaner things about Santorum and Gingrich than he ever has about Obama. He likes Obama and agrees with his general world view and most of his policies.


102 posted on 03/28/2012 9:02:04 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: rogue yam

Yeah, I meant the Superpac, which is not looking too Super anymore.


103 posted on 03/28/2012 9:15:31 AM PDT by tennmountainman
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To: napscoordinator
Such BS. He can’t even get people who agree with him vote for him. He is a terrible candidate and thank God voters know it. He is a has been guy who lives in the 90’s and does not provide a thing for today. A space station??? Oh brother. Haven’t heard much from him on that since Florida...wonder why? He just said that to get votes in Florida.

So, let me get this straight, you think this country has been better off in the past 10 years than it was in the '90s? I guess you wouldn't want to have anyone like Ronald Reagan as president either. That'd be too '80s. The reality is Newt has always been a FUTURIST, a politician who thinks, plans and looks toward the future, an extremely rare quality in Washington. His plans for Social Security reform, energy exploration, the space program, dealing with Islamic fundamentalists, etc., all show he is doing anything but taking us back to the '90s, he is trying to reform and revitalize our nation for the 21st century.

Newt's old nickname is "Newt Skywalker" because he's been for science, technology and the space program for his entire career. If you don't understand the vital importance of a cutting-edge space program to our national security and to maintaining our technological edge then you're about as useful to the democratic process as all the voters out there who are voting for Romney because he has nice hair.

Meanwhile the greatest priority of voters like you seems to be keeping tabs on where your favorite politician's penis has been. You can tell us if that's because you're too ignorant and intellectually deficient to understand issues that are more complex than "doing the nasty" or if you just suffer from an unnatural and unhealthy obsession with other people's sex lives.

104 posted on 03/28/2012 9:19:08 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: Steel Wolf
AllahPundit has it right. If it gets down to a brokered convention, they're not going to skip over the top two runner ups and go for the guy in third. They're going to go outside the box for someone fresh.

What makes you think anyone else would be interested? Granted if Jeb Bush threw his name in the hat, he would win it, but it's all dependent on him deciding to run. Someone who has a serious chance at winning the nomination through the normal process in future years might not want to throw a Hail Mary pass on an unprecedented attempt to take down a sitting President by entering the race with only 2 months to go.

105 posted on 03/28/2012 9:25:08 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: wolficatZ
Folks, Obama’s racist lynch mob of hate is out for blood, and will stop at nothing to satiate their vengeful bloodsport.

And Santorum made it crystal clear he is with them in their lust for blood and treasure, brutally annihilating anyone who dares question them, in the name of “justice”.

Saintorum reminded us of the kind of judgmental, so-called "Christians" that used to burn "witches" at the stake. Not that Saintorum's supporters haven't already been reminding us on a daily basis.

106 posted on 03/28/2012 9:29:03 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: darrellmaurina
Again, I don't defend gutter language. But let's be consistent. Gingrich supporters can't blame Santorum for doing pretty much the same thing they praised Gingrich for doing.

Nope, language matters. If Newt was up there tossing out the term "bulls***" or other profanity at the reporters he would have been drummed out of the race. Using that term in an on-camera interview in front of a crowd of all ages doesn't show intelligence, doesn't show good judgment, doesn't show discipline, doesn't show levelheadedness, doesn't show a sense of perspective, and it doesn't make a good argument. People don't want someone who talks like that representing their country around the world. That was the most unpresidential gaffe that's taken place in the race so far.

107 posted on 03/28/2012 9:37:57 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: Steelfish
Even if Santantrum pulls off Wisconsin, his campaign is still in big trouble. Since Romney will pull the Eastern States back to back with Wisconsin, to cancel out any gains Santo makes.

If Santo wins WI, it will only increase the possibility for a brokered convention, which is why Newt is staying in. Mainly, if Newt drops out, he will lose a possible nomination during a Brokered Convention, according to my understanding of how a BC works.

Honestly, I don't see how Newt can stay in much longer. His votes are already heading over to Romney, which the polls indicate. Ron Paul is also a big if in the coming weeks. And most of his votes will not go anywhere. They will just quit altogether.

108 posted on 03/28/2012 9:40:54 AM PDT by PSYCHO-FREEP (If you come to a fork in the road, take it........)
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To: bramps
Quite a ‘potty mouth’ on Ricky, huh? Parents should think very hard about letting their children listen to a man ( a presidential candidate no less) with a vocabulary like Santorums. Shameful.

He was triangulating for the "gangsta rap" vote. If he gets a bump in the polls from this he'll be announcing a new round of cabinet picks soon:

Secretary of State: Howard Stern Secretary of Defense: George Carlin National Security Adviser: Sarah Silverman Press Secretary: Chelsea Handler Vice President: Andrew Dice Clay

109 posted on 03/28/2012 9:43:29 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: Strategerist
Why could Newt survive a media blitz by Obama in the election but be destroyed by one in the Primaries? Are Republican primary voters more susceptible to Obama media blitzes than moderates and independents?

Because Obama can't outspend Newt 20 to 1 on lies he can't respond to and Obama can't run ads "smearing" Newt with Nancy Pelosi references. The independent voters don't care if Newt worked with Democrats, in fact they probably like it, and something tells me the Democrats would object to portraying Nancy Pelosi as a force of evil in their own ads. Mitt's strategy of trying to portray everyone else as a liberal does not have any use in the general election either for him or a Democrat opponent. Of course if you'd rather put your money on the Mormon, dog-abusing Baron of Bain or the tongue-tied, witch-burning team player as the best choice to beat Obama then be my guest.

110 posted on 03/28/2012 9:52:25 AM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: presently no screen name

Blah blah blah. More anger that Rick wasn’t vetted to your super high standards and poor poor Newton was just unjustly trashed like a defenseless girl in a tornado. Whatever. What you find appalling about Rick was obviously a value to him looking at election results. Conversely all these magnificent traits Newt has in your eyes turned just about everyone off.


111 posted on 03/28/2012 10:03:36 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

No anger - just stating the facts.

Have we seen his taxes yet?


112 posted on 03/28/2012 10:10:05 AM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: presently no screen name
Stating facts, eh?

not about a two bit lawyer player to keep the GOP E in power - the 'do it for the team' candidate supporting the worst of the worst against a conservative!

Worst of the worst in '04 was Spector? That isn't a fact and you know it. In 2003, Arlens ACU rating was 65. Olympia Snowe was 12. Some facts your are spinning there. You also might be aware if you lived in this state that Arlen could have dropped dead in the Primary and Toomey would have still lost in the General. The Rats ran a heavily financed dope and this is not a Conservative state in the least. Toomey had no shot in '04. He barley won with the Tea Party tide behind him in '10.

I also don't believe I could find where Rick was a 25 cent lawyer. Is that some more facts you have from somewhere? You may be correct though that he may not have made a lot of money. I can also not find where he had a 1 million dollar credit limit at Tiffany's.

113 posted on 03/28/2012 10:51:14 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA
Worst of the worst in '04 was Spector?

Worst of the worst IS Mitt!

I also don't believe I could find where Rick was a 25 cent lawyer.

So you are assuming what to believe. Could you find his taxes, at least?

114 posted on 03/28/2012 11:02:40 AM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: presently no screen name

The worst of the worst running in ‘08 was McCain. Forget McCain Feingold? As for your odd comment about taxes, you are the one calling Rick a “Two Bit” lawyer. Maybe you are unfamiliar with what that actually means. To most it is the equivalent of 25 cents.


115 posted on 03/28/2012 11:12:44 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA
The worst of the worst running in ‘08 was McCain. Forget McCain Feingold?

LOL! Compared to PRO ABORTION, PRO HOMO, ANTI-Traditional Marriage, appointment of liberal judges, BIG GOV'T Socialistic Romneycare.

116 posted on 03/28/2012 11:22:40 AM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: Lazlo in PA

So where is his taxes? You mean his word isn’t trustworthy?

A two bit anyone is one who can be bought off - no firm foundation in anything, a compromiser who is known to ‘do it for the team’.


117 posted on 03/28/2012 11:34:23 AM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: PSYCHO-FREEP

Agree- except I think Romney has this all wrapped up. Unless there is a roughly three-way split in delegates, a brokered convention is simply not in the cards where someone other than the individual wth the highest number of delegates gets the nomination. Even if Santorum wins WI (Not a good likelihood) he’d still have to win some some major primaries like NY, TX, CA to put up a half-decent fight. And the odds of him getting there are slim to nothing. Right now voters are casting their preferences based up on electablitiy and beating Obama, and from all accounts Romney has the distinct edge- at least in the minds of primary voters. That’s the reality.

Having come in either third place or dead last and drawing 5%-7% of the votes, and his campaign all but wrapped up, Gingrich is toast. And Santorum’s days are numbered should he lose WI next Tuesday. Indeed if he loses WI, Romney will pick up steam to give Santorum a run for his money in PA as well. What we have seen is that while money ain’t everything, it along with strong organization, comes close to everything and except for Romney none of the other candidates had anything close to it.


118 posted on 03/28/2012 1:05:09 PM PDT by Steelfish (ui)
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To: presently no screen name

Yes. I hate McCain that much. He is the worst of the worst.


119 posted on 03/28/2012 3:33:10 PM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: presently no screen name

Whatever. What does his taxes have to do with anything. The only reason they came up is because the media was whining about it a couple months ago. We all know you hate Rick. Thankfully voters don’t have your same opinion of him. Otherwise your man Newt would be challenging Romney in some tangible fashion. By all measure, he is not.


120 posted on 03/28/2012 3:37:17 PM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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