Posted on 02/23/2012 7:15:07 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Newt Gingrich didn’t have a game-changing moment in Wednesday night’s Arizona debate.
But the former House speaker’s newest approach to the Republican presidential race — staying above the fray, avoiding attacks and focusing on the issues — proved to be a winner for him anyway.
“Newt’s last two outings were disjointed and low-energy,” said Rick Wilson, a GOP strategist who is unaligned in the presidential race. “Tonight was markedly better.” But Gingrich had more ground to make up than the other candidates in Wednesday’s debate. More than his GOP rivals, Gingrich has used his debate performances — often marked by scathing attacks on the media — as a springboard for jump-starting his erratic campaign. Many attributed Gingrich’s sole win this primary season in South Carolina to a confident performance in a pre-primary debate.
As his poll numbers have continued to dive, the debate was seen as one of Gingrich’s last opportunities to regain traction before Super Tuesday on March 6. The question is whether a good debate performance can translate into major momentum so late in the game, especially with Rick Santorum now challenging Mitt Romney for first place.
“He dealt himself back in the game with some of the Newt magic,” Wilson said. “But Newt doing well now comes out of Santorum’s numbers, not Mitt’s.”
Gingrich laughed and smiled during the debate, leaned back in his chair on several occasions and beamed when Romney gave him several pointed looks during his responses to questions. When asked to use one word to describe himself, Gingrich responded with: “Cheerful.”
“He looked relaxed and looked like he was having fun,” said Chip Saltsman, who was Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager in 2008. “Definitely in his element.”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
BTW, I will NEVER vote for Romney! NEVER!
Either 1) it's an empty promise because he can't guarantee that private enterprise will put up the hundreds of billions necessary, and complete it in that time frame, or 2) it's a promise he is going to ensure is fulfilled via hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.
Those are the only two options, and neither is something I want to hear from the candidate I support.
THere aren’t hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and Newt very well knows that.
He isn’t willing to borrow from China for that...he understands that China is a potential threat.
China believes in space warfare, therefore I see Newt as wanting to counter that. As of now we have nothing.
The idea in general of continuing in space exploration and activity is good, even essential, in this dangerous world.
The specifics can be tweaked.
I will await further reveals from Newt before condemning it and him.
Because even if he turned out to be wrong on this, he is still by far the best candidate.
I support Newt as well. I was just pointing out that he can’t just blame Romney for his drop in the polls. He’s got some self-inflicted wounds as well.
Newt gets it! He really does. I have been in the Oil business for over 30 years, and I have yet to see a politician who actually understands what it takes, and especially what approach to take. That is, until Newt came along.
It is not a simple task, that we can increase equipmentment, supplies and production in a matter of days or weeks, it take years! It also takes some planned help from Government to just get out of the way, so we can effectively do our jobs.
We know what to do, and how to do it. Just lift all the restrictions, regulations and red tape required to plan any given well. We already have environmental safety practices that we have used for decades, before the EPA was even an actual agency. Give us half a break, and we WILL get it done!
You should look into algae. I hear it’s the fuel of the future.
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