The Calculations That Led Romney to the Warpath

New York Times ^ | July 28, 2012 | JIM RUTENBERG and JEFF ZELENY

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MIAMI — Facing the unthinkable here just seven days ago — a second loss in a row to Newt Gingrich — Mitt Romney’s campaign team hatched a two-part plan to win in Florida: make Newt mad and Mitt meaner.

[snip]

If Mr. Romney does win here on Tuesday, it will have been through a blistering and unrelenting series of attacks. His campaign has pressed everything at its disposal into service to eviscerate Mr. Gingrich, painting him as an erratic, unreliable Washington insider in mailings and television advertisements, at two critical debates here (where his team made sure Mr. Romney had ample and vocal supporters in the audiences) and even by sending supporters to mock him at his own events.

On Saturday, it released a new ad featuring a 1997 NBC News segment in which the anchor Tom Brokaw reported that Congressional peers of Mr. Gingrich, then speaker of the House, had “found him guilty of ethics violations.”

David Kochel, an adviser who arrived here from Iowa to oversee the pressure campaign, described the strategy as “let’s go rush the quarterback.” A team of Romney boosters started infiltrating nearly every Gingrich campaign stop to offer instant rebuttals. Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah showed up to challenge Mr. Gingrich’s record to reporters and at one point tangled with Mr. Gingrich’s press secretary as the cameras rolled. Bay Buchanan, a longtime conservative activist, worked on the Romney campaign’s behalf to win over voters and commentators.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I gather this includes Thursday when all the OpEd hit pieces on Newt were dropped and highlighted by Drudge.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bay Buchanan, a longtime conservative activist, worked on the Romney campaign’s behalf to win over voters and commentators.

More about Bay at Greta Wire "In the pic: Bay Buchanan and Rep Jason Chaffetz in the back of the room at a Gingrich campaign event in Florida this afternoon. (And no, there is nothing wrong with them attending the event..it is only interesting.)

Congressman Chaffetz has been a guest on ON THE RECORD at 10pm on more than one occasion and I have known Bay Buchanan for years – so long that I don’t know where we met. I also know her brother Pat who worked at CNN when I was there.

I asked my assistant to get me some routine background info on Congressman Chaffetz to post and I was surprised by his colorful history. He used to be a Democrat but switched parties and became a Republican after he got married. I don’t know if it is a coincidence, or if his wife is just persuasive!

Also – look who his father was married to! The wife of Democratic nominee for President Michael Dukakis! Congressman Chaffetz was also the Utah co-chairman of the Dukakis campaign."..............

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

If Mr. Romney does win here on Tuesday, it will have been through a blistering and unrelenting series of attacks. His campaign has pressed everything at its disposal into service to eviscerate Mr. Gingrich, painting him as an erratic, unreliable Washington insider in mailings and television advertisements, at two critical debates here (where his team made sure Mr. Romney had ample and vocal supporters in the audiences) and even by sending supporters to mock him at his own events.

I'm vacationing down here (Clearwater, FL) and though I've been bombarded with pro-Mittens ads since I got here (3 weeks ago) the numbers and vitriolic/hit/hate attacks since No. Carolina is unbelievable.

Mitt (and the RINO elitist, Republi-tard establishment) is truly in meltdown/histeric-mode and they are paniciking.

Of course considering how effective they were in Iowa, they figure they can simply repeat ther scorched earth progrom again here and sadly, it appears to be working as Newts number are dropping and Romney's are surging.

I'm having a great time (away from the cold and Far Left Moonbats in VT) but at the same time, I'm getting a little worried (not depressed yet) that we will end up with 08 deja vus (and Juan McPain) all over again.

[Ozone34]

Interesting... Both Buchanan & Chaffetz are converts to Mormonism. I suspect Glen Beck is doing his part for the cause as well.

[Cicero]

Bay Buchanan is a Mormon? Good grief. I guess they’ll take anybody.

Don’t tell me that Ann Coulter and Matt Drudge are Mormons, too?

[ansel12]

Bay Buchannon is another Catholic convert to Mormonism.

She serves Bishop Romney, and his cause, now.

[annieokie]

Interesting that Mitt is using the very IDEA that Gingrich has about following Obama around, if Obama will not do the Lincoln/Douglas debates with him. Only hes sending his surrogates. Does Mitt ever have an original idea?

Seems he just listens, and then Steals and Adopts the ideas of the other candidates, which ever one will sell best for the moment. What a snake.

[kristinn]

Skeptical FReepers were right:

A team of some of the most fearsome researchers in the business, led by Mr. Romney’s campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, spent days dispensing negative information about Mr. Gingrich, much of it finding its way to the influential Drudge Report, which often serves as a guide for conservative talk radio and television assignment editors and to which Mr. Rhoades has close ties.

The effort hit a peak by Thursday, when the site was virtually taken over by headlines assailing Mr. Gingrich, whose advisers said they eventually gave up on trying to persuade the Drudge staff to spare them, acknowledging, in the words of one aide, that “very little can be done.”

[sergeantdave]

Oh, look, Cincinatus’ Wife. Zee poodles at zee New York Times, Jimmy and Jeffy, she be barking: Newt! Newt!

[txhurl]

I’ve yet to see a good analysis as to what’s in those absentee ballots, have you?

[kristinn]

BTW, this is the kind of victory dance article that the campaign gets published after they win, not three days before voters go to the polls.

I hope the Gingrich campaign uses this article to motivate its staff and supporters.

[Brilliant]

Romney is going to have to be a lot meaner in order to face down Obama.

[VikingMom]

I wondered the same thing about Drudge - as far as I know, Ann Coulter is not a Mormon but she sure has gone ballistic for Mittens! Glenn Beck is totally in the tank as well...

I recently read a great book called “Home and Away” that was written by an attorney and his wife (David and Nancy French) during his deployment to Iraq as a JAG lawyer. They are conservative Christians-he works for Alliance Defense Fund-but they were big Romney supporters during the 2008 campaign. As I got more into the book, it was clear that the wife was VERY swayed by how NICE the Romneys were towards her.....flew her to Utah, gave her ski clothes, equipment, etc, took her out for the day to Park City. I am sure that they can be wonderful people to those whom they think can help them but the underhanded way they have attacked Newt Gingrinch has really validated that Mitt cannot be trusted!

[DJ MacWoW]

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[colorado tanker]

Newt might as well figure out how to counter this stuff now, because if he gets the nomination this is a preview of the Dem attacks, which will come even harder.

[KantianBurke]

“A team of Romney boosters started infiltrating nearly every Gingrich campaign stop to offer instant rebuttals.”

Creepy and below the belt. Still doesn’t compare to Team Dubya’s tactics in South Carolina in the 2000 GOP Primary though.

[Mariner]

At least now we know who all the enemies are.

And they are myriad.

Liberty has no friend but us. We must fight and we must SPEND to support our last, best chance to defeat all that and those we find abominable.

A good portion of those are in the GOP, many we once thought were true.

[Mariner]

"Bishop Romney"

Nobody should refer to him otherwise.

It is both accurate and precise.

[ansel12]

.....flew her to Utah, gave her ski clothes, equipment, etc, took her out for the day to Park City. I am sure that they can be wonderful people to those whom they think can help them but the underhanded way they have attacked Newt Gingrinch has really validated that Mitt cannot be trusted!

Sometimes we forget that Bishop Romney is a school trained, professional cult recruiter, with years of experience in the field, including in a supervisory position.

Bishop Romney knows how to seduce and corrupt people.

[CatherineofAragon]

“Interesting... Both Buchanan & Chaffetz are converts to Mormonism. I suspect Glen Beck is doing his part for the cause as well.”

Chaffetz has always been a go-to guy for Beck. Beck says he’s one of the very few good guys in Congress. Take that to mean what you will.