“Newt, you need to smile. Obama is all smiley and cheerful.”
Whoo HOO! I agree. (Let the naysayers say he is arrogant”, or say he is “angry”.) I don’t care, just let it rip!
Just watched a good portion of the interview with Piers Morgan. Newt looked very relaxed and likeable with a pretty liberal guy in Piers. Somebody has gotten to Newt and retooled him back to the sage, wise and interesting person that crawled up from nowhere and grabbed everybody’s attention back in November.
This was a very effective interview, because when you see him in this style, he is open about who he is, where he comes from, and how he has matured through the years - very effective. He also explains American culture more effectively than any politician I can remember since Reagan.
In the last 2 days, he is doing something very telling. He had to go hard on Romney to stop the inevitability story the press is selling - they clearly want to face Romney.
Second, after NH, Newt has stated clearly in several media appearances that this is essentially do or die for himself in SC. By doing so he is drawing attention to himself for maximized exposure. The story now is ‘Can Newt do it?’, instead of ‘Romney is rolling along’. Americans love the underdog, especially an underdog who reflects the traditional populist culture that Reagan beautifully portrayed. Newt is communicating this to the SC people.
Third, now that he has everybody’s attention, he said today that his focus is on his record in governance to Romney’s. This is a great story because he can credibly say that the economic policies that Newt led created the environment for business growth that guys from high society like Romney down to the working people used to great benefit. Aside from one weak term as Mass. governor, what has Romney really done that has helped our American society as a whole? This is now the game, and Newt has one week to sell it. Solid plan, not impossible!