Posted on 04/10/2012 5:42:31 PM PDT by Red Steel
RALEIGH, N.C. — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign Monday began morphing into less of a pursuit of the presidency and more into an effort to shape the Republican platform and to influence the discussion in the fall elections.
Campaigning in Raleigh, Gingrich said he planned to battle front-runner Mitt Romney in North Carolina’s May 8 primary and all the way to the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla., but conceded the prospects of overtaking the former Massachusetts governor were not bright.
But he said Republicans still face serious choices at the convention and into the fall — whether the GOP will be a "conservative, dynamic movement" or whether it will move more to the center. Gingrich said he hoped his candidacy would help influence that debate.
"There is no reason to concede anything," Gingrich said at a news conference. "Every vote we can get in North Carolina is a vote for a more conservative platform — every vote we can get in Delaware, or we can get in Arkansas or we can get in Texas, that is a very useful thing to be doing. If there is a major mistake or a major flaw, the race is wide open again."
Meeting earlier with a group put together by black conservatives, Gingrich elaborated on his theme, saying he wanted Republicans up and down the ticket this fall to run on a conservative platform, which he said was not only the principled choice but also the best way to win.
"That’s why I am continuing to campaign," Gingrich said, "trying to send a signal."
Gingrich’s campaign has taken on a different tone in North Carolina. He hardly mentioned, let alone criticized, his primary rivals: Romney, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Romney has two fundraisers planned April 18, but Santorum has no appearances planned in the state with the primary just a month away. Santorum is focusing on the GOP primary in his home state of Pennsylvania on April 24.
That means that Gingrich has North Carolina nearly to himself, and he spent Monday campaigning in Raleigh, meeting with a community group, holding a news conference, having lunch at Caffe Luna and addressing students at Broughton High School. On Tuesday, he will campaign in New Bern and he will return to the state Saturday to attend a "tea party" rally in Greensboro.
While Gingrich is actively campaigning here, he is doing so without any advertising budget that would allow him to reach a broad number of voters.
Gingrich called the state’s GOP primary "very competitive." A survey of Tar Heel voters conducted late last month by Public Policy Polling found Romney and Santorum tied at 30 percent, Gingrich at 19 percent and Paul at 13 percent.
The difficulty Gingrich faces was evident at a meeting with community leaders at the Shanahan Law Group, when one person asked Gingrich whether he thought conservatives might mount a primary challenge to a President Romney in 2016.
Earlier in the campaign, Gingrich might have used such a question to challenge Romney’s conservative bona fides. Instead, Gingrich talked about the need to make the GOP adopt a conservative platform in Tampa.
Gingrich said he hoped the new phase of his campaign would enable him to push some of his ideas — something he said he often found difficult to do during the hectic give and take earlier in the campaign.
He said the country needed bold ideas because economic conditions were much worse than people realize — that unemployment was far worse than the numbers indicate, college kids can’t find jobs, that the national debt was growing, and that many of the social programs such as Medicare and Social Security faced financial challenges.
Go Newt. I’ll vote for you.
With Santorum suspending his campaign Newt got a good shot at taking NC.
;-)
Newt in the White House is exactly what we need to undo the chaotic mess left by Obama.
Poser RINO backstabber at work:
"Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.
This thingy I found is the perfect size.
Mount it on the roof
of my wife’s second Cadillac.
Cover up the stain from Seamus."
“Willard, what the hell is that child doing on the roof?”
now he drops out but how about when he had his daughter sick back around FL.
He had not one county for him in NH then SC then FL and yet his daughter was sick and many said what on earth is he doing and now this.
Wonder if Santorum will go for Romney and if he does then it will show what many have said why he stayed in.
Disgusting all of this
Newt would have been way out in front by now and the attacks by FOX, Drudge and the establishment would not have worked but Santorum stayed in till now Newt has not a chance .
Seems many on here were right as to why Santorum stayed in but I’ll wait till he gives his support and if he goes for RINO then that is it
Newt...you've just been given a huge gift. Let's see what you can do with it.
His POV needs to continue to get out there.
Every conservative should vote for Newt now. And, send money.
This race is not over until it’s over. Let’s kick up Newt’s funds for him
The McCain/Palin ticket was up ++4 to 10 pts
in some polls, days prior to Election 2008.
So rather than helping the GOP, Romney and
TeamROMNEY and the RNME (Republican National Media Establishment)
decided …to attack Gov. Palin to throw Election2008.
Romney, and the Van der Sloot RNME RINOs for Obama in 2008
The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.
"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."
"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"
"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"
"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party
over to the traitors in the battle just ended.
We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged
to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support.
Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates
wouldn't make any sense at all.""
-- President Ronald Reagan
North Carolina GOP Primary / May 8 (Proportional Primary) / 55 Delegates / RCP Polling Data
| Poll | Date | Sample | Romney | Santorum | Gingrich | Paul | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCP Average | 3/16 - 4/7 | -- | 30.3 | 29.7 | 15.7 | 12.0 | Romney +0.6 |
| PPP (D) | 4/4 - 4/7 | 461 LV | 34 | 30 | 17 | 11 | Romney +4 |
| High Point | 3/19 - 3/29 | 239 LV | 31 | 25 | 12 | 15 | Romney +6 |
| SurveyUSA | 3/16 - 3/20 | 403 LV | 26 | 34 | 18 | 10 | Santorum +8 |
Absolutely, but I think it’s basically impossible at this point unless Santorum throws his support behind Newt, which is kind of a stretch considering he endorsed Romney in ‘08.
But if Newt can somehow revive his campaign yet again, he’ll get a big donation from me.
I can’t say I was exactly in Santorum’s camp since I was planning of voting for whichever one (Newt or Rick) had the better chance of winning more votes in Pennsylvania, but Newt’s got my vote now. My wife, on the other hand, was squarely in the Santorum camp and she also is going to vote Newt.
He's probably thinking, "If I can somehow get a big donation from Cato, I'll revive my campaign." ;o)
If Mitt doesn't think he's inevitable, why should we?
lets just hope Santorum throws his support to Newt and those delegates go Newts way.
Right now the establishment, FOX, coulter, Drudge, and the other talking heads along with the RINO liberal north east, pro homo, cross dressing , pro planned parenthood Romney are all sitting there laughing their heads off thinking this is a done deal and that us conservatives, the real base not the clueless Today, Good morning, Ellen, Oprah show crowd will all unite and just ignore how they attacked our candidates, how they pushed a big Govt , socially liberal Gov onto us.
If Santorum's voters break a very generous 2:1 for Gingrich over Mittens, that's still not enough to win.
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