Posted on 02/14/2012 1:03:13 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Is it time for Newt Gingrich to drop out? In an editorial published yesterday, National Review, the leading organ of the conservative movement, said the time has come for the former House speaker to leave the GOP presidential race. This editorial is a gut punch to an already staggering campaign.
In the three weeks since the South Carolina primary, Gingrich’s stock has plummeted. Coming out of the Palmetto State, he “sounded really bad” in the two debates that preceded Florida, according to GOP analyst and Daily Beast contributor Rich Galen. The veteran pol may have been “sick, tired, or [just] thought he could wing it,” says Galen, but these dud performances sent his campaign into a spiral from which it has not yet emerged. And as Newt’s electoral fortunes have flagged, so have his finances. Although he has eight separate fundraisers scheduled this week in California, he will be hard pressed to match Rick Santorum, let alone Mitt Romney, in raising money.
Gingrich’s quandary is that while he needs to be more successful in states holding upcoming contests in order to raise money, he can’t be successful without having the necessary funds to compete. The beleaguered candidate does have one opportunity to grab attention in the meantime—the Feb. 22 debate in Arizona. Mark McKinnon, former adviser to President George W. Bush and now a Daily Beast contributor, says Gingrich does not just have to do well at the debate, but “absolutely dominate [it]. He has to own it lock, stock, and barrel. Perhaps roll out a truly transformative idea”—preferably, McKinnon suggests, “something earth-based,” a gibe about Gingrich’s much-mocked proposal for a moon colony that he unveiled in Florida.
Galen, however, thinks that not even a strong debate performance is enough. In his view, Gingrich is in dire enough straits that a “three-bank shot” is needed. The former House speaker must pair a decisive win in the debate with a Santorum implosion—a combination of a major gaffe by the former senator from Pennsylvania and a strong enough performance by Romney in both Michigan and Arizona “to choke off Santorum’s money.” The task of “clawing his way back into the race” is very tough, and Gingrich just needs to hope that "somebody else mak[es] such a dreadful mistake that he gets to climb back in,” Galen says.
Both Gingrich’s campaign and the super PAC supporting it, Winning Our Future, are optimistic. R.C. Hammond, the campaign’s spokesman, said, “With over 160,000 people donating to the campaign and growing each week, we are in very good shape.” The senior strategist of Winning Our Future, Rick Tyler, said, “Everything is going fine.” He did admit that “we could always use more money, but that’s always the case.” The super PAC is “focus[ing] more aggressively in the zone between $2,500 and seven figures,” Tyler said. “[We’re] more aggressive on hitting that zone, focusing messaging-wise more on the grassroots aspect.”
But while Gingrich’s campaign and Winning Our Future continue to plug away, it’s clear that certain elements of the GOP donor base will never warm to the speaker. John Catsimatidis, a major Republican donor and Romney supporter from New York, says Gingrich is unelectable. In his estimation, “Newt Gingrich can probably only achieve 47 percent [and] not get the moderates and independents in the middle” needed to win a majority. To Catsimatidis, New Yorkers like him “are basically moderates, and they believe Mitt Romney is good for the business world and that he won’t do anything stupid.” In contrast, he says, Gingrich is unreliable, and donors are “backing away from him.”
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“National Review, the leading organ of the conservative movement,”
...uhhh, yeah, uh huh.
If past debates are any indication, they will use the polling to limit most of the questions to Romney with some gotchas aimed at Santorum. They will give Newt questions that will not help him. He’s fighting from a tough position to dominate the debate. With all that said, he could pull it off. I sure wish we had the luxury of arguing who is better, Newt or Rick, while they are the two remaining candidates.
Ain’t NR the best place to go the hear great news on the fabulous Mitt?
“...uhhh, yeah, uh huh.”
___________________
More like; “National Review; the propaganda organ of Karl Rove and the Romney campaign.”
This is just more establishment schlock. Newt Gingrich is not dropping out of the race.
-—”National Review, the leading organ of the conservative movement, said the time has come for the former House speaker to leave the GOP presidential race”-—
I believe they also said this five minutes after he declared his run.
And then again when he was in the lead.
I think it’s time for The National Review to drop out of publication.
Newt (and Santorum) have no chance in Arizona, thanks to the large Mormon population. Neither does Newt have a prayer in Michigan. February is a cruel month for the former Speaker.
Given that Newt is heading for single-digits in national polling, and is now third in Tennessee, I’m pretty sure now he’ll drop out after Super Tuesday.
He’s not going to win any states on that date other than Georgia, and will likely be third (or fourth) in most.
I would like to see a recent Oklahoma poll (none since December). If he’s under 20% there then I’m ABSOLUTELY sure he drops out after Super Tuesday.
As long as Newt stays in, he will continue to have my support and I will keep sending him money.
GO NEWT GO—it’s about the survival of our country!!
Having said that, it is almost time for Newt to hand the Not Romney race over to Santorum. Newt looked tired in both Florida debates and Romney took him off his game. Not good for someone who claims he will mop the floor with Obama on 7 three hour Lincoln Douglas debates.
This article quotes only one source on Newt’s electability — a Romney supporter/donor. How stupid do the Beasties think we are?
There, fixed it!
We don’t need panzi’s in tutu’s to do nicey nice and be friends
He is a professional criminal who needs professional law enforcement to crush his little black a##. GO NEWT
The dinosaurs at the daily beast have been dead for months.
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