Posted on 03/13/2012 10:51:12 AM PDT by Red Steel
Birmingham, Ala. -- The question for Republican Newt Gingrich is not whether he will stay in the presidential race after Tuesday's primaries in Alabama, Mississippi and Hawaii. The question is where he'll take the campaign next.
The Gingrich campaign provided the latest answer, announcing plans to head to Illinois and Louisiana later this week even as most polls offered little certainty about how Tuesday's contests would turn out. Gingrich, a former House speaker who represented Georgia, had predicted victories in nearby Alabama and Mississippi. But more recently he and his advisers have revised expectations to say that even a "strong" showing was enough to go on.
How Gingrich can keep going with little momentum and much doubt about his chances is uncertain. On Tuesday, for instance, the chairman of Alabama's Republican Party, Bill Armistead, predicted in an interview on CNN that if Gingrich loses Mississippi and Alabama, "he's out of the ball game."
Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said the former House speaker has his sites set on upcoming contests in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin and even California, the last of which doesn't hold a vote until June. Hammond also said that the campaign is planning a "floor whip operation" for the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August, planning to meet Gingrich's oft-spoken promise to stay in the race to the convention.
"I''ve instructed the press corps to take down time now so they're ready for the next month," Hammond told reporters Tuesday.
Hammond dismissed questions about fundraising, saying that Gingrich is raising enough money to advertise this week in both Mississippi and Alabama. However, both ad buys are on cable channels (less expensive than broadcast), and Hammond would not say how big the buys are.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Newt is delusional. He is a good debater and has some appeal in the Deep South. But, beyond that, he is unelectable in a General Election. He simply has too much baggage.
Give Newt time to work a state on the ground and he will move his poll numbers quickly upward. Newt is the best face-to-face candidate running bar none.
Ping.
In three of those four states, he has a long way to go to reach second.
Go Newt!
Newt will do fine. :-)
Make that four out of four. He is in 3rd by eleven in Texas, seventeen in Wisconsin, nineteen in Illinois, and eight in California (because Santorum slipped and has not yet recovered there.) That’s a lot of minds to change.
I think your analysis of Newt’s baggage is way off.
Newt’s baggage will be irrelevant old news in the general election. As far as anyone knows, he has been faithfully married for 10 years, and he’s 68 years old. So he is not going to be turning the White House into his own pleasure palace like Clinton did, Even in spite of his past he was never a serial sexual harasser or womanizer. It’s ancient news and I really don’t think he will lose votes over it if he wins the nomination.
As for his other “baggage,” everyone knows, or will know during the general election, that he was completely exonerated of the 84 ethics charges filed during his tenure as Speaker by David Bonior’s reprehensible harassment campaign.
Newt’s debating strength is certainly unequaled, but more to the point, he has proven that he can work Congress. His strategic and tactical vision is extraordinarily clear and well defined. He has a clear agenda and a historical perspective that is desperately needed. He comes across as completely Presidential — clear, unflappable, strong. He will make Obama look foolish during the general election.
“I’’ve instructed the press corps to take down time now so they’re ready for the next month,” Hammond told reporters Tuesday.
I find that sentence hilarious. I thought this week was supposed to be the Week of Newt. If the Press takes time off then what about the momentum out of AL and MS? I am not saying he is going to get any, but with that sentence it seems as if Newt feels he won’t get any momentum at all from the South. Good Luck Newt. If nothing else you sure have changed the way a primary is run.
They're having a hard time keeping up with Newt who is being kind and gentle is giving those guys some rest. LoL.
Yeah, whatever. Frankly, I need to see him win some primaries outside the South (or even take 2nd) before I change my opinion of him.
Too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...(do they believe it yet? - No - keep going)too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...
Are you convinced yet? NO? OK.too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...too much baggage...repeat...
What baggage does he have, that hasn’t already been thrown out there? And what baggage does he have that no one else has?
If it weren’t for single issue voters, I highly doubt Santorum would even be in the picture. Which is one of the problems with the Republican/Conservative side of the house. The Dem’s vote Dem, no matter what.
Romney is nothing but a Northeast Liberal, which is conservative compared to the radicals that run the governments in the Northeast. And all he does is throw his money around, and still barely wins.
Again, Newt cannot seem to win ANY primaries outside of the South. He is a flawed candidate. Deal with it.
Newt is easily the most intelligent candidate in this campaign, with an unsurpassed record of getting conservative things accomplished. Nobody's remotely close.
He has "baggage" because he's been the most maligned: Most of the baggage is false, out-of-context BS or wildly exaggerated.
Rick is not all that articulate. I agree with him as much as I agree with Newt, but Take-the-Bait Santorum in a debate against Obama? That is frightening, (though the way Obama's going, maybe anyone could beat him....I'm thinking Thaddeus McCotter could beat him).
Obama has baggage, lots of it, and mostly criminal.
We are trying to defeat BHO2, remember?
The first “baggage” Newt “acquired,” was his 26 yr old high school science teacher, he was 17. You see anything wrong with this? Today, she would be looking for a new job after she got out of prison. But never mind that, they married after he graduated and he had his first child at 19 and another shortly thereafter. DID NEWT QUIT? Hell no, he got is undergraduate degree, then his masters, then his doctorate. He became a US Congressional rep and became speaker of the house......does anyone know the remarkable success story this is, with the odds against him at 19. I don’t and you don’t know what the facts are in that marriage, but it was doomed from the beginning. His second marriage was with a manipulative, vindictive woman. They were separated four years and the interviews she gave during that time were vicious. They tried a reconciliation which failed. I would say he met Callista during the separation. Four years is a long time. So get over the “baggage” it means nothing.
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