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 hasn’t 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.
"That’s part of what’s 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.' I’m like, well, it’s 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.
Childish personal attacks are a poor substitute for reasoned commentary
How about instead of trash talking the other candidates and their supporters you try spending your time making a case FOR your candidate instead?
are you looking in your mirror as you post? that is YOU not me...as I said, “IF someone posted they thought Cain’s tie was fugly...you would go on a tirade” LOL LOL
I know all that about Newt now. The lecture I heard him give must have been just before that.
BRAVO!
Cain is a “jive talker”He says what people want to hear without thinking that most of it is just wishful thinking.Not that most politicians don’t fit that profile, they do. I’ll stick with Rick. His biggest fault is that he isn’t making promises he can’t keep, just to please the few that cannot be pleased.
Yea, 53 years would be even before he was working in GA for the Nelson A. Rockefeller candidacy.
As Hillary’s political godmother was Eleanor Roosevelt, Newt’s godfather was Nelson Rockefeller. It’s all pretty much the same people ruining the country, but with voter consent.
Nor do I. Mitt and La Raza Rick already cover that market without a third choice.
Correct. Newt already did the cheap fold act against another Democrat president in another decade. We don't need an encore.
Hmmm . . . Very interesting. If you say “Mitt, Newt” very rapidly several times together, you get “Mute”.
Saw the last 30 minutes of it last night. Do you know if it will be replayed today?
If steadfast opposition to any discussion on so-called "global warming" is your primary issue in the upcoming election, then no, Newt Gingrich probably isn't your candidate. However, if you're looking for the smartest individual, who is best equipped fix the economy, restore America's place in the world, and return a deadlocked congress to work, then, yes, Newt ought to be your guy. The intent of that picture was obviously to appeal to independant voters, who regard Newt as the ultimate inflexible conservative. He opposed Kyoto, wants to abolish the EPA, and has stated that he won't endorse any enviornmental regulations that hurt the econmy. I call that picture crazy like a fox.
. Primary issue? Global warming is trivial compared to his support of TARP, the Prescription, Drugs Boondogle, No Child Left Behind, etc. Have you forgotten about these flaws or are you just doing your best to gild the lily?
Um, I was responding to a specific post on a specific issue. There's plenty not to like about Newt Gingrich. My candidate is Rick Santorum, but I'm under no illusions about his chances. This nomination is about Romney Vs. "not Romney," and I see Gingrich as the best alternative who can actually win.
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