Posted on 11/05/2011 2:39:42 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
While Mitt Romney has remained a constant in polling for the Republican presidential nomination at around 25-28%, inconstancy has been the constant among his opponents. Michele Bachmann became the first to ride a wave to Romney’s relative polling position, only to fade when Rick Perry entered the race. Now Perry has faded after a series of awful debate performances and Herman Cain has taken his place for the last six weeks. If Cain can’t maintain his momentum, who will be the next Not-Romney? Byron York reports from Iowa that it may well be Newt Gingrich:
For days, there’s been talk of a Newt Gingrich boomlet in the Republican presidential race here in Iowa. After Friday night’s Reagan Dinner at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines, that Gingrich boomlet talk might turn into talk of a Gingrich boom.
Five candidates — Gingrich, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul — addressed a crowd of about 1,000 GOP faithful at the state Republican party’s biggest fundraiser of the year. In brief interviews after the dinner — the only question was which speaker did the best job — audience members were unanimous: Gingrich, Gingrich, Gingrich.
“It was Newt,” said Chad Kleppe of Waukee, Iowa. “I think he’s the smartest one in the field.”
“Gingrich knocked it out of the park,” said Earlene Nordstrom of Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Byron talked to twelve people at the event, and all twelve scored it a knockout for Gingrich. Neither Romney or Cain made an appearance at the Reagan Dinner. Romney sent his son, who confessed that he had no idea where his father chose to be rather than the Iowa GOP’s big fundraiser. York also wondered why Cain, who said this week that he must win Iowa and is conducting a money bomb specifically for that purpose this week, chose to stay in Washington DC rather than try to keep momentum with an appearance. Both are attending AFP’s Defending the American Dream conference, and Cain has been a regular on AFP’s circuit, and presumably committed to that event long in advance of his sudden rise in the presidential polls.
Why is Newt poised to catch fire? York credits Newt with a counterintuitive strategy, at least for the former Speaker and his public reputation: he is on a charm offensive. No, really:
Gingrich won the night in large part by doing one simple thing: He lavished praise on his fellow candidates. Perry has been “my mentor on the 10th Amendment,” Gingrich said. Bachmann deserves credit for efforts to stop the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. Rick Santorum has worked to “rouse America to understand the challenge of radical Islam.” Ron Paul has been “consistently correct” about a sound dollar. Gingrich did not offer praise for the two frontrunners, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, who skipped tonight’s dinner. But had they attended, Gingrich said, “I would have said nice things about them, too.”
“I am here with very fine competitors, but no opponents,” Gingrich concluded. “We only have one opponent, and that’s Barrack [sic] Obama.”
Gingrich has figured out that voters in this primary want to be inspired, rather than choosing which candidate to despise least. Herman Cain has campaigned the same way, and his optimism and vision has been a key to his ascent to the top tier. If that seems odd considering Gingrich’s well-earned reputation as an infighter, it’s another indication that Gingrich is a master at politics and campaigning. He has another advantage that some of his opponents — excuse me, competitors — do not in this regard. Unlike Tim Pawlenty, Cain, Romney, and everyone else currently or formerly in this race, Gingrich has earned his reputation for hard-nosed battles inside the Beltway. He can afford to be gracious now, but no one thinks for a moment that Gingrich would insist on a rainbows-and-flowers campaign in a general election.
Gingrich’s polling has begun moving upward in the last couple of weeks. Who would have guessed in May that Gingrich would have the second-highest positive intensity score in the field in November, tied with Romney behind Cain? Plus, even though Cain was the immediate beneficiary of Perry’s debate performances, the lesson may well redound to Gingrich’s benefit in the longer run:
“He is so good,” said Becky Ervin of Urbandale. “I want to see a debate between him and Obama.”
We’ll see more of that tonight in Gingrich’s Lincoln-Douglas style debate in Texas with Cain. If Republicans want a proven substantive fighter who can out-debate Barack Obama, they may come to Newt Gingrich — even if it’s just by default.
Update: The Right Scoop gives us the video of the speech itself, and it’s just as York described:
And a true conservative isn’t so stupid as to consider voting for a man who has repeatedly screwed them.
HA! Pot, meet kettle. All you do is denigrate other candidates and their "------bot" supporters.
I will try to get a copy of the Atlanta Journal back in August of the year Cain ran and maybe than you will absorb the facts. I told you that I like the fact Newt deserves credit for obtaining the first balanced budget since 1969 when he was speaker of the house and was also responsible for the republican revolution. I loved his video on activist judges and I am looking forward to the debate...PS I am not a boy...I am a woman and since you chose to address me PERSONALLY in such a derogatory manner because I am stating facts about your man..you should learn to control your attacks on those that posts and stick to the message...not the person.
Shove your righteous indignation where you pulled it from, dude. You will be as successful at telling me who I must not vote for the same way the propaganda media has been successful at it. My Republic is more important than your purity tests. So long as enough thinking peope speak out, you will not cause Milt Rominy to be the default nomination so long as a more brilliant, more capable, and more savvy politician and scholar is available. You bully like a Perry supporter.
Sorry slander bot, until you addressees the points raised about Newt rather then just keep screaming the slander at Cain no one is going to take you seriously
Tonights’ debate is going to be great, I am expecting major head explosions in a couple of hours. Be safe, FR is gonna be a dangerous place shortly.
You could not have made a more revealing accusation. You have not a clue what you’re talking about. But your previous ramblings on the Perry/Cain arguments already revealed that.
Cain is not the “outsider” you think...he has had connections with DC for years too. Excuse me...have to go watch the Breeders Cup...better than staying here and being attacked as a poster by YOU. Still say Cain had on a fugly tie the other day
Sorry not being suckered yet again.
Sorry not interest at all in working to elect yet another good little faux Conservative Liberal GOP Establishment water boy like Newt. The time for political temporizing and expediency is over.
Lead or get out of the way.
It appears the GOP Establishment still does not get it. Our nation is too far past the point where this “politics as usual” nonsense the GOP Establishment wants to play in 2012 is a viable political strategy
pimping the smear louder doen’t change fiction to fact.
Address the points about Newt smear bot. Until then quit wasting our time with you sleazy smear tactics.
I’m taking her seriouly, and seriously, dude, time for some decaf.
And maybe you will awaken in some future day to realize how utterly stupid you are to be helping the commie media do exactly what they do each election cycle. You have not a clue how easy it is for them to herd fools into irrationally trashing every Republican candidate in the field. But clueless, you still press forward, torch and pitchfork in hand, doing as you are herded to do.
C Span in 90 minutes or 7PM central. The debate is in Houston Texas.
Guess it just takes courage to try something different.
Yeah heard all the same crap from the GOPbots about McCain in 2008. They all told us how great it was going to be “to have the war hero debate the kid”.
With a Conservative Congress and an activist public, we can hold Newt to his campaign promises.
Newt has been out of office for a long time now, and doing just fine for himself. I don't think Newt needs to be president. His ego isn't driving him, his IDEAS are. Newt is brilliant. He is a scholar. He is a student of history. Like he said, “unlike president Obama, I actually studied AMERICAN history”.
Give Newt a second look. The past is just that, passed.
Gimmee a break. We all know you are going to vote for Obama.
Read Newt’s ideas. No serious transformation effort to solve anything. His notions all involve merely tinker around the edges of the existing system thinking that will “solve” anything.
Did not work for Reagan, will not work for Newt. Unless the political class finally grasp that it is the system itself that is broke, they will never fix it.
That is why all the professional politicians like Newt are “no go” for 2012. They do not even seem to understand the real problem yet.
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