Posted on 11/04/2011 6:31:27 PM PDT by presidio9
Newt Gingrich predicts the race for the GOP nomination will come down to two weary candidates: "This will end up being Mitt and Newt."
Gingrich, the former Georgia congressman and speaker of the U.S. House, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that his campaign is now where it needs to be and that by December he'll have the resources to compete head to head with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"And Romney is the real competitor," Gingrich said in his Buckhead campaign headquarters, where he rallied two dozen volunteers before heading to Duluth for a town hall meeting sponsored by the 7th District Republican Party.
An obviously upbeat Gingrich said he survived June and July, which he called the darkest two months of his 53-year political career, and is poised to make a serious run at the nomination.
It's a remarkable turnaround for a candidate many pundits and news outlets had declared out of the race earlier this year. And while polls have shown Gingrich inching into sole possession of third place -- including a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday that had him distancing himself from fourth-place Rick Perry -- he's still at least 10-12 percentage points behind Romney and Atlanta resident Herman Cain.
But Cain has suffered through four days of brutal news coverage over allegations of sexual harassment from when the former Godfather's Pizza CEO was head of the National Restaurant Association. Polls have yet to reflect any impact of the charges, and it's unclear whether Cain will slip from the top tier as have past challengers, such as Perry, the governor of Texas, and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn.
Gingrich, who suffered through his own bouts of scandal earlier in his career, said Cain needed to hole up somewhere and figure his way out of this mess.
"My first advice is what he hasnt done, which is say nothing until you sit down with your lawyers and with the people who know the facts," Gingrich said. "You thoroughly and completely understand them and you go through a period where everybody asks you -- in your team -- every possible negative question so you thoroughly understand what will happen."
Gingrich said Cain is going through "a rough patch" and whether or not Cain survives Gingrich said he is ready to eclipse Cain.
"We just had the two best days," Gingrich said. "We raised more money Monday than we ever had before and we raised more money Tuesday. Those two days we raised 50 percent more than we raised in July."
As for critics who say he lacks the resources or organizational strength to compete in Iowa, whose caucus will be held Jan. 3, Gingrich said there's more than enough time.
"Thats part of whats funny all summer," he said. "I work back from victory. Victory in Iowa starts about the 10th of December. Everybody else was saying, Oh my gosh, look at August, look at September.' Im like, well, its not the 10th of December."
The American people, Gingrich said, are tough and expect their leaders to be tougher.
"The job of the political leader is to reach past the distractions and to continue to communicate what they think matters, and to try and do it in a way that the American people decide they offer a better future," he said.
In Duluth, before about 300 local Republicans, as well as several local tea party leaders, Gingrich unveiled plans that he said could save the federal government trillions of dollars. His plans include turning Medicaid into a block-grant program that would allow states to tailor plans for its needs.
Questions from the audience dealt with national security, federal spending, concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency and border control.
...or for McCain 2.5 either!
Maybe so. But I will not be voting for either of them.
That is a cute way of saying "Support our guy of the Drmocrat is elected". And it worked on me several times. But 2008 was the last time.I will not vote for the lesser of two evils again. If the Republican Party wants my vote, they will give me a Conservative to vote for.
All the crying, "It is your fault that obama got re-elected" falls on deaf ears.
The Republican Party made it impossible for my favorite potential candidate to run [Sarah Palin] and are trying their dead level best to eliminate my substitute [Herman Cain].If they are successful, I will vote third party or write in in the President slot. The ball is in their court.
I’m sure she would.
That pict ure of Newt cuddling with Nancy and him spouting the global warming bullshit told me all I need to know about him. I may be an idiot for not voting for him, but I will not knowingly vote for a global warmer. You can have Newt and Nancy to worship all to your own.
Have you heard Newt discuss the issues giving concrete examples and plans? Have you heard Newt debate? I trust his knowledge and government experience over Mitt, Cain and Obama.
Just when I was getting some respect back for Newt he has to show his ego. I forgot how big it was.
That was just another of Newt’s pissing on people’s heads and telling them it is rain. Surprising how many believed him.
Man that must be some good dope Gingrich is smoking. I guess he has’t heard yet. The attempted lynching of Mr. Cain has been quashed and he is stronger than ever.
I would have at least a little respect for the philandering Newt if he got off the public stage. Sadly his ego will not permit him to do the right thing.
Do I hear a Hillary Clinton echo here: “You know he [a black man] can’t get elected.”
And by the year 2014 we will be a full blown third world communist country run by a wannabe MARXIST dictator.
It was reply number 23 and I removed it already. It was hosted by my Photobucket account, I removed it from there, so it's no longer hosted and disappeared from F.R. I could have just changed the name of it at Photobucket and it would have had the same effect but the person who said, "it was boring" was correct so I just deleted it from my account and you get what you see now at #23.
Other hosting web sites a deletion will get you a little red "x" at F.R. if you delete a hosted picture.
In other words you need a 100% candidate which are just hanging on every tree you shake or you take your chipped marbles and go home?
He has and said they are crap.
And I have heard the same thing from Cain and Perry. How ever the big difference is Cain and Perry have a record of standing for their principals and ideas where Newt has a record of talking a good game then caving in to political expediency in office. No thanks, I have no desire to vote for McCain 2.0 in 2012.
Screaming bile and insult to Cain supporters is not “trying to reason”
How about your Newt backers address the facts rather then attack the messengers? Instead of posting mindless blather about “the adult in the room” how about you all try one time addressing the facts about Newt?
We heard all the same blow hard GOP Establishment talk in 2008. They all could not wait for the war hero to take on the kid. We were all told how great McCain was going to be going up against 0. Instead he folded like a cheap suit. Newt will be no different.
Hmmm so Newt is the adult? The adult who has consistently stabbed the Conservative movement in the back in the name of political expediency?
Newt who threw Paul Ryan under the bus, trash talked the GOP Health Care plan as Right wing social engineering, chastised Conservative for not backing uber RINO Dede Scusafasa, purposes a Amnesty lite Middle way on Immigration and jumped on the Global Warming couch with Nancy Pelosie??
So adult now means being a Bush like candidate who will talk a tough game on the Campaign trail and then go to DC and be a good little crony capitalist liberal GOP water boy.
No thanks, have no interest in voting for McCain 2.0 in 2012
I don’t usually post to you, but I’m wondering ... I thought you supported Palin at one time.
Did you ever support her?
Some people never learn.
Why in the world would Palin subject herself and her family to the sort of conduct we are seeing from both political sides in this campaign?
Don't kid yourself, Palin would be subject to the same hypercritical, nasty attack politics as any of the other candidates.
I’ve got a hunch Newt will do far better than Nancy Pelosi.
If Gingrich can maintain his trajectory I think a 50/50 chance exists that a “former” Democratic president could end up supporting Gingrich... not officially, but essentially.
The writing is already on the wall, imho.
In a word, yes.
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