Posted on 01/22/2012 6:00:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
While Gingrich's come-from-behind victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary has put a halt to discussions of Mitt Romney as the inevitable GOP nominee, the former Massachusetts governor remains the heavy favorite for the next primary contest in Florida and the Republican nomination.
For the former House speaker to fully claw his way back into contention, he'll have to put together a remarkable week in the lead-up to the Jan. 31 Sunshine state primary.
Luckily for Gingrich, he already has a template: his successful effort in South Carolina.
The former Speaker's upset win in the Palmetto state — he was trailing by double digits in the polls as recently as Tuesday, and won by more than 10 percent — came on the heels of a fortunate confluence of events.
A packed debate schedule allowed Gingrich to shine in the forum to which he is perhaps best suited — and where Mitt Romney is least comfortable.
The exits of Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry from the GOP race also aided Gingrich, as conservatives disenchanted with Romney defected to the most viable alternative.
Influential conservative figures — including, perhaps most prominently, former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — also rallied behind Gingrich's campaign, indicating that the establishment was not yet sold on a Mitt Romney nomination.
Remarkably, Gingrich has the opportunity to repeat many of these successes as the GOP presidential field turns their attention to Florida.
The GOP candidates are already scheduled to appear at two debates next week, including an NBC-hosted affair Monday evening in Tampa.
Meanwhile, CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer is pushing Romney and Gingrich to sit down for a third one-on-one debate on his program next weekend.
“I will tell you I personally would like to do that. I have a hunch that if you can get Gov. Romney to agree to the three of us to sit down next Sunday, it would be perfect and I suspect we’d be happy to come and do it," Gingrich told Schieffer, asking the host — who ordinarily is on the air for just 30 minutes - if he would extend his program for a full hour.
There is also the possibility that Rick Santorum could exit the race, pushing conservatives to coalesce around Gingrich's candidacy. While Santorum insisted Sunday that he felt "absolutely no pressure at all" to exit the contest, a Public Policy Polling report issued earlier this week showed the former senator with just 11 percent of likely Florida voters - 15 points behind Gingrich and 30 behind Romney.
Florida is an expensive state to campaign in, with 10 dispersed media markets and more expensive advertising rates than any of the earlier campaigns. That could provide a particular challenge to Santorum, who has always lagged behind the other GOP candidates in terms of fundraising and is used to campaigning on a shoestring budget. If conservative elites begin to pressure Santorum — much as they did earlier this week with Rick Perry — it's plausible that he could exit the race.
And Gingrich could see a boost as bigger names and influential conservative leaders rally behind his South Carolina victory. Palin, who has not yet formally endorsed, nevertheless referred to Gingrich as the "front-runner" and said she was encouraged that the race would continue on.
“The more vetting, the more ideas vigorously debated, the better it is for the electorate,” Palin said Saturday on Fox News. “So we need this to continue, and I’m glad to see the result that was tonight knowing that it will continue and we can start talking about more of the solutions that this country needs to get back on the right track.”
Of course, Gingrich will need all three of these factors to continue in the coming days for him to overtake Romney's commanding lead in Florida’s polls. And while the momentum from his South Carolina win should help him make his case in the Sunshine state, it's tough to depend on everything going right.
Nor can Gingrich count on another tailor-made media-driven news cycle — like the allegations presented by his ex-wife in an interview with ABC News earlier this week — that enabled him to grab the bully pulpit and rail against his favorite target: "liberal elites."
Furthermore, Mitt Romney's campaign is looking to right course.
Already Sunday, Romney announced that he would release his 2010 tax return and 2011 estimate online, taking a particularly tough arrow out of Gingrich's quiver. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) blamed Romney's loss in the state partially on his botched explanation of when he would release the returns.
“I think we made a mistake holding off as long as we did,” Romney said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “It was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign.”
Romney has also started attacking Gingrich from the right, hoping to undermine his popularity among the conservatives that constitute his base.
“I think the speaker has some explaining to do sitting on the sofa with Nancy Pelosi and arguing for climate change regulation, calling the Ryan plan ‘right-wing social engineering,’” Romney said. “Look over his record and you’ll see he’s not as conservative, not as reliable a conservative leader, as people might have imagined.”
And a Santorum exit might be little more than wishful thinking on the part of the Gingrich campaign. The Pennsylvania senator has already released his Florida campaign schedule and has repeatedly noted that each leading candidate has one primary win.
"Florida is a tough state for everyone, it's very, very expensive… [but] we feel like we can go and compete there," Santorum said Sunday on CNN. "This race is not going to be over in Florida, it's not going to be over I think by Super Tuesday."
The Sunshine state will prove a tough, uphill battle for Gingrich. But as the former speaker proved this week in South Carolina, primary battles are ripe for unforeseen surprises.
This little weak nitwit thinks he has a chance. The only chance he has is getting Romney in and King Obama will get another term.
Funny how Mitt thinks the tax issue is what’s hurting him.
My first choice was Rick Perry.
I can’t say that I like Newt personally, but I’ll be da*ned if I support RINO Romney or Ricardo Santorum.
Santorum’s voting record for illegal aliens is shameful.
Santorum:
Voted AGAINST increasing the number of immigration investigators:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00201
VOTED AGAINST HIRING AN ADDITIONAL 1,000 BORDER PATROL AGENTS, paid for by reductions in state grants.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00179
VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=105&session=1&vote=00058
Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00154
SANTORUM: Trim Social Security now- even if painful.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7O34Bpp42k-IlMMNiOLBkYF2zNw?docId=b1cff9ecefe24ca6ae1764a09761e361
VOTED AGAINST FOOD STAMP REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00353
VOTED AGAINST MEDICAID REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00352
Voted to increase the social services block grant from $1 BILLION to $2 BILLION
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00302
VOTED TO RAID SOCIAL SECURITY instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=2&vote=00056
Voted to impose a uniform federal tax mandate on states to force them to allow convicted , rapists, arsonists drug kingpins and all other ex-convicts to vote in federal elections.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00031
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Santorum; Big government spender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6XCZz2X1Y&feature=player_embedded
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087812/Rick-Santorums
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Santorum needs to put his ego aside, place his country before himself, drop out and go back to wherever he came from.
Rick Perry is twice the Conservative Santorum is!
He deserves the VP slot.
Since 2000 he has led the second largest state in the union on to be the most successful economically.
Perry stated that in his administration he would start all countries getting U.S. foreign aid at ZERO, until they proved to be our allies.
He was also the first to bring the war on religion to the forefront.
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What liberal drone wrote this pablum? Conservative elites?
I thought we were all racist, homophobe, buck-toothed hicks, clinging to our guns and bibles.
The elites are the ones what live closer to town, wash their overalls once in awile and married their second cousin, not 1st cousin or sister.
Ya know, I hear some o' them folks take a bath once a year, whether they need it or not. Could they be the elites this boob was talking about?
I agree. THere is no reason for him to stay in. Bow out now, and show some class.
I don’t think Rick needs to drop out, but he can skip FL. FL is winner take all. He has no chance to win. None. All he can do is spend a lot of money in an expensive media state/
However, after FL is NV, MN, CO. All caucus states with proportional delegates. If he skips FL and spends the next 10 days in NV and CO while Romney and Newt slug it out in FL he’ll have the states all to himself and be ahead of the game. Also, those 2 states are far less expensive and he can be way more effective and do the retail thing that worked well in IA.
If Romney ends up winning FL and knocking off Newt, he’ll be the only non-Romney left. If Newt wins , he still has a 10 day head start on him and could well end up the non-Newt the establishment gets behind after they dump Romney.
But staying in FL really makes no sense for him. none. He should announce he’s skippng FL and focusing on NV and CO.
Interesting how this article mentions Palin. I wonder if one of the reasons she hasn’t formally endorsed Newt is because she knows(as does Newt) that she could only serve as a distraction. The media and establishment would love to use her endorsement to attack Newt with. So she robs them of that weapon, but still effectively endorses him through Todd and some favorable comments of her own. Some strategery on her part.
Drop out, Rick and endorse Newt. Show us that the country is more important than personal ambition.
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While Santorum insisted Sunday that he felt “absolutely no pressure at all” to exit the contest ...
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Agreed. Rick, please, quit and fight another day, or fight with Newt.
“Funny how Mitt thinks the tax issue is what’s hurting him.”
The thing is now it looks like Mitt was forced to release his tax statement.
Also Maine. Caucus states where Paul will make a showing with his occupiers. Santorum won't find any refuge there.
I was for Perry too and he proved worthy by how he handled his exit from the race. I had thought Santorum’s biggest problem was a lack of elan, but it seems we weren’t getting a look at the rotten fruit until now. I really thought that “settling” for Newt would be the way to go. I now feel that he’s going to be part of our destiny, and in a good way.
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