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:
fACT...CAIN WAS BACKED IN THE GEORGIA SENATE RACE BY RAINBOW PUSH; FACT CAIN DONATED MONEY TO DEMORATS AFTER HE JOINED THE GOP; FACT I DO NOT LIKE THE 999 PLAN AND FACT CAIN SAID HE WOULD HIRE AN OPENLY GAY STAFFER IF HE/SHE WERE A CONSTITUTIONALIST...MAKE THAT OPENLY GAY ...GO SIP YOUR MACHO DECAF...LOL WOULD HATE TO SEE YOU ON CAFFEINE
If Newt makes it all the way, he’ll only be the second divorced president on record (after Reagan). The difference is that Reagan got divorced because Jane Wyman was fooling around, where Newt was the guilty party in his divorce. Still, earlier presidents weren’t particularly faithful - they were simply more secretive about their assignations. Compared to them, Newt is a choir boy.
Every once in a while, you will counter an impressive list of Gingrich accomplishments by demonstrating your ability to - in a political arena with 1,000,000 issues - find a couple of things on which he does not hold the most conservative position possible.
You have been presented with issues on which Cain is highly questionable, such as his rather clear Libertarian position on Abortion (”Pro Life” in the Libertarian fashion), his desire to give a pathway to citizenship to illegal immigrants (amnesty), his donations to Liberals even after he claims a conversion to Conservatism, his Clinton-eque memory about the lawsuits of recent note, his adoration and constant praise for Mitt Romney (not to mention prior endorsement), and his desire to implement a Nationals Sales tax in addition to (not in lieu of) an Income Tax.
I have yet to hear you address this issues without attacking other candidates as if they are somehow responsible for Herman Cain's decisions.
Not once, looking back a multitude of your posts, have you given an argument as to why everyone should support Herman Cain. Yet you can be CONSTANTLY seen attacking other candidates and hurling insults at their supporters who are actually making an effort to make a case for their candidate.
Then you cry victim and falsely claim that it is everybody else smearing your candidate. Yet here you are on a Gingrich thread offering nothing but attacks, smears, insults, and name-calling.
Stop crying victim, and stop pretending not to see the extensive counter-arguments people have given to your charges.
Newt Gingrich has a Conservative record that is impressive, Cain has no record whatsoever.
Your not going to find a perfect candidate. None of them are... I liked Palin and Cain somewhat, but they all have baggage.
A lot of conservatives believed the global warming crap before it was debunked. As for his three marriages, I say so what. I have some wonderful friends who have been married multiple times - including two siblings.
How about you two try addressing the issues for a change?
But I suppose when your candidate has a record of being on every side like Newt it becomes impossible to make a case FOR him
Read Newts 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. None of them grasp the fact the system IS the problem.
BRAVO TitansAFC...finally some sanity in this forum.
Meanwhile, Barry Soretoro skated, and did he skate through the last election process as "community organizer" with absolutely no credentials to be POTUS which tells how far gone we are.
MSM has smeared Cain, Perry has destroyed himself in the debates, so the bottom line is Newt.
We must win the next election or our Country will be an Orwellian corpse with O winning another one.
Newt is the man?
And you’re leveling ad hominem attacks at Cain, his supporters, and Conservatives because Cain donated to two dems?! And Newt worked closely with Clinton and his comrades on the Left side of the aisle, but he’s “the man”?!
You speakum out bot sides of mout, Kimosabe. You makem doubo standard.
on healthcare...Newt..9.Stop health care fraud by moving from a paper-based system to an electronic one. Health care fraud accounts for as much as much as 10 percent of all health care spending, according to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. That’s more than $200 billion a year. Compare this to the 0.1% fraud rate in the credit card industry thanks to its high-tech information analysis systems.
10.Stop junk lawsuits that drive up the cost of medicine with medical malpractice reform.
11.Speed medical breakthroughs to patients by reforming the Food and Drug Administration.
katiedidit1 and the like attack Cain, and smear his name because the man apparently donated to two democrats, and they support Newt?!
Newt supporters waving the double standard flag is no surprise.
Cain donated to more than two dems and Newt and Gingrich had a battle...the govt shut down. It was Newt that did not cave and we got the first balanced budget ammendment since 1969 and a gop revolution. Clinton was drug kicking and screaming into the contract. Newt did his job.
Take that fork out of your tongue
Make that Newt and Clinton had the battle...you remember the govt shut down. Watch the debates tonight...should be excellent
“fACT...CAIN WAS BACKED IN THE GEORGIA SENATE RACE BY RAINBOW PUSH; FACT CAIN DONATED MONEY TO DEMORATS AFTER HE JOINED THE GOP; FACT I DO NOT LIKE THE 999 PLAN AND FACT CAIN SAID HE WOULD HIRE AN OPENLY GAY STAFFER IF HE/SHE WERE A CONSTITUTIONALIST...MAKE THAT OPENLY GAY”
Post the sources.
You’re being disingenuous. You’re holding a double standard. Newt is a democrat. His record speaks for itself. It is your prerogative to support him as a presidential candidate, but your endorsement doesn’t change the double standard, or the fact that he’s a RINO.
I was for Thompson in ‘08. What a disappointment. I’m not thinking about who can beat Obama. I think they all could. I thinking about who can save the country.
the democrats and rinos detest Newt. Tune in tonight and learn
I’ve been married to two different women, that’s not it! It’s cheating on your wife that stops me. I never even considered it, but he did it more than once.
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