Posted on 03/16/2012 3:46:57 PM PDT by Steelfish
MARCH 16, 2012 Tampa Tempest Newt Gingrich Plots Convention Chaos. By Robert Costa
As he waited for the returns on Tuesday, Newt Gingrich didn’t pay much attention to the soft flicker of Fox News. Instead, as he sat with his family and a few aides in a suite at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Ala., he was quietly glued to his BlackBerry, thumbing his way through e-mails. He was mostly cheerful, according to those in the room. He reminisced about campaigns past with his daughters. He reviewed his schedule; he bantered with his wife, Callista; he settled on a purple tie. As he sipped a Diet Coke, he casually prepared for his evening speech.
The takeaway from the relative calm was clear: This was just another night in another city. He’d make his extemporaneous remarks, his aides would pack their bags, and within a few hours, they’d board a plane and head to the next battleground.
“He never discussed dropping out, not even a whisper,” says one Gingrich staffer. “It was business as usual.” His youngest daughter, Jackie Cushman, concurs. “It was never tense,” she says. “People forget that he’s been running since 1974. He doesn’t get anxious.” Downstairs, the scene was more apprehensive. There was a dwindling crowd of Newt enthusiasts. After the networks declared Rick Santorum the winner of both Alabama and Mississippi, Beltway scribes began to write the campaign’s obituary. (snip)
Days later, that consensus remains. Gingrich is committed to staying in the race until the convention, according to his advisers. He believes that there will be chaos within the party come August, and that — with a bit of luck, a clever floor strategy, and a powerful speech — he could build a winning coalition.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Yes, he is. :-)
That theory has some evidence in how much more Obama's spent than unopposed W did in 2004.
Unfortunately Santorum's not gotten the vetting he deserves, nor do I expect it to come unless he appears on the ticket.
BlueStateBlues, when I read the “keep Romney busy with shiny objects”, I actually spit my ice tea I laughed so hard.
You make a snipe like that, and state it's Newt who needs to grow up? Good grief.
No he did not "blow it." He got creamed by a mega-million dollar smear campaign. The other non-Romneys have benefited from not being target #1.
The obvious fact is that Obama and his operatives are already campaigning against Newt. They have the dirt on everyone, and Newt’s baggage having already been vetted means, they predict Romney and Santorum will be hit with dirt that will bury them.
One, there were riots at the 68 convention. That's not what we are talking about here.
Two, you can't establish that Nixon won because of the Democratic convention.
You are leaping to unfounded conclusions.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. There is one thing that decides Presidential elections. The economy. Obama proves the point. The only way he could ever have won in 2008 is that the economy was perceived to be crashing, and McCain considered part of the incumbency.
If the economy is bad in November then anyone will beat Obama. All this hand-wringing about trivia is stupid.
Santorum was already aided and abetted in one election..swept into office during the gop revolution and Newt’s leadership:)
A floor fight at the convention might be just what the grassroots needs to get fired up about all this. The Dems already have their guns loaded. We need to come out of Tampa with “guns blazing “
Good post.
ER the GOP establishment have caused all of this by shoving their RINO on to us and still backing him.
Instead they could have backed and defended Sarah, got her ready for this year , set the ground work early and then bring Col Allen West in.
Now we have three still in the race and lets face it none of them look good after this and that is because of Romney and the establishment as well as FOX attacking Newt like I have never seen before.
As you know, I believe Gingrich and Romney are splitting the anti-Santorum vote and if Santorum wasn’t such a neophyte he would not be pleading Gingrich out of the race.
It may be too that Newton Gingrich regrets not fighting for Speaker at the end of 1998, and he never again wants to be seen as a "quitter." Only Republican primary voters henceforth have the power to tell him to go away, and I don't think they will. This 37-31-14 in IL just about sums up the whole race. I think it will stay that way form now on.
It's CERTAINLY not unprecedented in GOP politics. And I'm not speaking metaphorically.
At the '64 convention, where Goldwater won on the first ballot at the Cow Palace...there were fist fights in the aisles.
When Reagan lost on the second ballot in '76, the Mississippi delegates were involved in several "scuffles" in the back hallways.
This is a passionate sport.
Keep in mind if a district in IL votes that way, Mitt gets ALL the delegates. Most upcoming delegates are not proportionally distributed. There were rules against winner-take-all before a certain date by the RNC, but we're past that now. Also, the math going forward is favoring Romney enough that he pretty much HAS to lose IL to be denied 1,144 by June.
Democratic propaganda? Sorry, if the truth hurts, but I remember the tantrum the ‘former’ Speaker threw because Clinton had him set at the back of AF-1. That isn’t Democratic propaganda. That is a fact.
Newt wanted to talk to Clinton on the plane about the impending budget crisis.
Clinton refused to talk to Newt, avoiding Newt by keeping him in the back of the plane.
Newt came off the plane and told the world that Clinton didn't want to talk about the budget.
The Daily News then twisted the facts.
And you believe it.
As I said....
Even if Newt was V.P.? Newt has said he likes Rick. I'm a Newt supporter and trust his judgment. I like Rick and hate Romney, so I'm right in line with Newt's opinions.
THAT, Sir, is THE definitive description of how it will look if our convention picks Romney.
He'll walk out with his nuts sealed permanently inside the GOPe Lockbox, and promptly become The Bamster's personal nationwide floor mop. You wanna see a Presidential campaign scenario that headlines the wet dreams of DNC strategists, give Romney the nod at the GOP convention. The bloodbath at the polls in November will be apocalyptic in scale.
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