Gingrich Campaign Staff -- We're Outta Here!

[davefoc]

He sure has been flapping in the political winds as far as what his positions are. He was against the Ryan budget, until he heard the reactions. He was in favor of the individual health insurance mandate until it was incorporated into the Democrats' law, so now he's against it. (And apparently the constitutionality of it has changed right at the same time.)

So he's sure acting like someone who wants to win a political office.

There seem to be two Newt Gingrich's and unfortunately for both of them they often disagree with each other. There is a thoughtful, almost non-partisan advocate for generally but not always right of center ideas and there is a wacky partisan driven by self interest.

When Bush was savaging the country with crony driven spending, overseeing the horrible mismanagement of the Iraq occupation and just in general messing stuff up I had imagined that some grand old men of the Republican Party might step forward and try to do something about it. One of the guys that I thought might be able to do something was Gingrich. With hindsight, that was an ignorant idea, Gingrich may on occasion sound like he is about ideas and the common interest but mostly Gingrich is just a routine partisan driven more by his self interest than truth or the common good.

 

[Tricky]

More and more the buzz is that it is not Newt, but his wife, Callista who is the main source of tension.

In the implosion’s aftermath, officials close to the Gingrich campaign privately pointed fingers at Callista Gingrich as the source of the tension between her husband and his staff.

They say she exerted enormous influence on the former House speaker, controlling his schedule and encouraging him to disappear on a luxury cruise in the Greek Isles just weeks after he got into the race.

That trip was the final straw for some who pleaded with him not to go.

You have to admit that she is hypocritical woman who wears her Catholic religion on her sleeve, but who carried on a lengthy affair with Gingrich leading to him divorcing his second wife. That and the Tiffany account make it look like she is keeping Newt's manhood in a little gold case on her vanity.

 

[Monketi Ghost]

I was almost disappointed to see a member of the old guard embarrass himself this way, and with basically no GOP interest.

Almost.

 

[hgc]

Here we go for Round 2 of the Newtie Abandonment Tour:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/06/21/national/a093614D71.DTL

The top fundraisers for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign have abandoned his struggling bid amid anemic fundraising and heavy spending.

When Callista quits on him, then it'll be curtains for sure. Please let this drag on for a few more months. My biggest concern is that Gingrich's funders and potential funders have permanently bailed on him, leaving little fuel to run on.

 

[Tricky]

When Callista quits on him, then it'll be curtains for sure.

She won't leave until she's maxed out that Tiffany's account.

 

[Brainster]

Who do you think hired the staff in Iowa? I'll bet you an avatar for a month that Schoenfeld goes to work for Perry.

Good thing you ducked out of the bet.

The group "Americans for Rick Perry," which made headlines in the last two days for trying to light a fire for the Texas governor in the form of support at the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa next month, is making hires - including a top former Newt Gingrich staffer, sources told POLITICO.

Craig Schoenfeld, a veteran Iowa strategist, has been brought on board and has started nascent discussions with others about six-week contracts - meaning the duration of the lead-up to the Ames poll, the sources said.
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Schoenfeld ran Gingrich's Iowa effort until the massive Newtiny that saw nearly 20 staffers quit last month, in part because the candidate wouldn't commit to the retail politics and fundraising involved in winning the state.

 

[hgc]

Good thing you ducked out of the bet.

Your campaign-fu is strong. What would have been my avatar?

 

[Brainster]

Your campaign-fu is strong. What would have been my avatar?

Probably something like this.

 

[Ausmerican]

Probably something like this.

Hmmm, vacuous, with a generous helping of ignorance. Your avatar-fu is as strong in its evil as your campaign-fu was in its precognizance.

 

[hgc]

Probably something like this.

What the hell. I've been Racer X for almost 10 years -- I can try on something else for a little while (not necessarily a month).

 

[Brainster]

What the hell. I've been Racer X for almost 10 years -- I can try on something else for a little while (not necessarily a month).

Now that caught me by surprise!

 

[leftysergeant]

What is he? Sixty-five, seventy years old?

Not too early for Alzheimers.

Not that being senile will keep a man from becoming POTUS, as long as nobody notices it.

Still, you might well expect that the modern party realizes that it is not a good idea, because they might get found out too soon this time.

 

[hgc]

I had to revive this thread from last June, wherein the impending final fizzle of the Newt candidacy was celebrated. It just goes to show ya, it ain't over til it's over.

Newt is still my favorite Republican candidate (for entertainment, not governing, purposes), and he has continued to earn his place. Will he be the last man standing against Mitt? Or second-to-last?

 

[davefoc]

I thought Gingrich was done. But I also though Hillary Clinton couldn't win a senate seat in New York so I am highly skeptical of anything I believe about the future.

My guess right now, is that Romney will still get the nomination. The issue for Republican partisans is whether to go with Romney who has the best chance of winning in the general election or to go with Gingrich who is more appealing to the Republican Party base. If the Republicans convince themselves that the country is so unhappy with Obama that even Gingrich could win then that's the way they'll lean. If the Republicans decide that it is going to be tough to unseat Obama but they have a fighting chance with Romney and none with Gingrich that's the way they'll lean.

Question: Will women voters be more sensitive to the nature of Gingrich's personal life and reject him in large numbers for it?

Another question: Gingrich is now a Catholic. That was a big deal when Kennedy was running but has that faded as an issue or is it just that the religiously oriented have decided that Catholicism is better than Mormonism and it is way better than being a crypto Muslim*?

*For the record, I don't think Obama is a crypto Muslim but that view seems to have amazing traction in this country for reasons that baffle me.

 

[MaGZ]

I thought Gingrich was done. But I also though Hillary Clinton couldn't win a senate seat in New York so I am highly skeptical of anything I believe about the future.

My guess right now, is that Romney will still get the nomination. The issue for Republican partisans is whether to go with Romney who has the best chance of winning in the general election or to go with Gingrich who is more appealing to the Republican Party base. If the Republicans convince themselves that the country is so unhappy with Obama that even Gingrich could win then that's the way they'll lean. If the Republicans decide that it is going to be tough to unseat Obama but they have a fighting chance with Romney and none with Gingrich that's the way they'll lean.

Question: Will women voters be more sensitive to the nature of Gingrich's personal life and reject him in large numbers for it?

According to Richard Land evangelical women will not vote for Gingrich.

 

[BenBurch]

According to Richard Land evangelical women will not vote for Gingrich.

Or Romney. It's a cluster.

 

[DJW]

Or Romney. It's a cluster.

It's always been a cluster ****.

 

[Minoosh]

What is the "base"? Is it the people who always vote? The base elements of the GOP?

I ask because it seems widely assumed that "the base" are evangelical/Tea Party types. But I don't think these segments are the majority even within the GOP. Both Gingrich and Romney supported health insurance mandates, and Gingrich is now pretty well positioned on immigration. Yes, there will be always be segments that scream "no amnesty," but the fact is that we had amnesty under Reagan and that Bush and McCain both supported a path to legal status. Mainstream Republicans aren't the ones posting nasty things about Mexicans on Internet forums. But, maybe the nomination doesn't come from mainstream Republicans?

 

[Garrison]

But, maybe the nomination doesn't come from mainstream Republicans?

Well that's the big question isn't it? Can a candidate get the nomination without appeasing the more extreme elements of the party?

 

[RandFan]

What is the "base"? Is it the people who always vote? The base elements of the GOP?

I ask because it seems widely assumed that "the base" are evangelical/Tea Party types. But I don't think these segments are the majority even within the GOP. Both Gingrich and Romney supported health insurance mandates, and Gingrich is now pretty well positioned on immigration. Yes, there will be always be segments that scream "no amnesty," but the fact is that we had amnesty under Reagan and that Bush and McCain both supported a path to legal status. Mainstream Republicans aren't the ones posting nasty things about Mexicans on Internet forums. But, maybe the nomination doesn't come from mainstream Republicans?

IMO, what most people think of as a political "base" is at best an illusion. The "base" is a diverse group that will, on average, tolerate or reject various propositions at any given time.