According to the Wall Street Journal, last night at a campaign stop in Lutz, Florida Newt Gingrich had this to say:
A pugnacious Newt Gingrich reiterated his intention to stay in the Republican presidential primary “all the way to the convention,” telling reporters Sunday morning that he believed that “this is going to be a straight-out contest for the next four or five months” between him and Mitt Romney.
Mr. Gingrich said after attending a morning service with 2,000 worshipers at the Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church that he didn’t agree with polls that show him trailing in Florida, and in any case, he’s not bowing out of the race.
“I think that the election will be substantially closer than the two polls that came out this morning,” he said, adding that he was eying support for Rick Santorum as potential source of votes in the coming months. “When you add the two conservatives together we clearly beat Romney,” Mr. Gingich said. “I think Romney’s got a very real challenge trying to get a majority at the convention.”
…
Mr. Gingrich knocked back suggestions that prolonging the primary campaign could damage the party’s chances in November. “The long campaign of 2008 between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama led them to win the presidency. There’s no reason that a long campaign has to be a bad thing,” he said.
“This is a campaign about the future of America and the future of the Republican party. Do you want an insider who’s part of the city which has been accepting huge amounts of taxpayer money to prop up giant institutions or do you want somebody who’s prepared to challenge our system head on and insist on very dramatic change in Washington? I think that’s worth a serious debate and I think that debate will go all the way to the convention.”
The only thing bigger than Newt Gingrich’s mouth is his ego. Assuming the leads for Romney in Florida hold true for thirty-six more hours, Mitt Romney will be our nominee. It will be all over but the shouting.
Apparently, Newt Gingrich intends to do a lot of shouting.
Let me count the ways that Newt’s moon-colored glasses are not allowing him to see reality here:
1. “Mr. Gingrich said… he didn’t agree with polls that show him trailing in Florida.”
Of course Newt Gingrich is not losing Florida! How could Newt Gingrich be losing Florida? There must be something inherently wrong with the last eleven polls from the state showing Romney winning now, because everybody knows there can’t be anything wrong with Newt Gingrich. Of course, living in this obtuse state of denial easily reminds one of the well-worn political axiom: everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. It is also strangely reminiscent of Mike Huckabee’s declaration in 2008: “I believe in miracles, not math.” I’d advise Gingrich to learn Huckabee’s lesson: math is what takes you to the nomination, not denial of reality.
2. “When you add the two conservatives together we clearly beat Romney.”
Well, let’s test this theory of yours, shall we, Newt? Rasmussen Reports – specifically one of the polls Newt mentioned – has Romney at 44% this morning. Gingrich + Santorum combine for 40%. Oops. The other poll, from NBC/Marist, has Mitt sitting at 42%. Gingrich and Santorum account for a total of 43% — technically more, but certainly not “clearly” so, as Newt intoned.
3. “I think Romney’s got a very real challenge trying to get a majority at the convention.”
As much as a brokered convention is a political nerd’s dream, it is simply not going to happen. I’ll cover this more in a post later this week. Suffice it to say Gingrich is dreaming while grasping at straws here.
4. Mr. Gingrich knocked back suggestions that prolonging the primary campaign could damage the party’s chances in November. “The long campaign of 2008 between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama led them to win the presidency.
As noted here on Race before, and at other blogs as well, there is a massively important idea that Gingrich is missing in his assessment here. Although Hillary and Barack were locked in combat for five months, it never got nearly as ugly as the Gingrich/Romney battle has gotten. Hillary had plenty of ammunition with which to attack Obama; she chose not to use most of the damaging attacks at all, and chose to use other attacks sparingly. She refrained from attacking Obama from the right (for instance, on BAIPA) and didn’t use attacks that ended up in RNC television ads. In short, she did not utilize scorched-earth tactics against the eventual party nominee; that is why it didn’t harm Obama’s electoral chances. Obama emerged from the Democratic nomination process as a victor; if Gingrich continues his desperate and deceitful assault on Romney for the next five months Romney may come out as damaged goods.
And that’s not to say there is no value in a bruising primary. There most certainly is, and people can be stronger general election candidates because of it. But when a GOP primary contender consistently has his attacks echoed in DNC talking points and advertisements, five more months of it will only cause harm to our eventual nominee. And if you think Newt’s attacks are desperate now, wait until you see what he’ll be coming up with five months down the road…
5. “This is a campaign about the future of America and the future of the Republican party. Do you want an insider who’s part of the city which has been accepting huge amounts of taxpayer money to prop up giant institutions or do you want somebody…”
I have to admit, I chortled a little bit out loud when I read this part. For Newt Gingrich, the ultimate Washington insider, to try and cast this race as an Insider (Romney) versus an outsider (Gingrich) is simply beyond the pale, and I still have a hard time believing he’s attempting this tact. It’s unbelievable, in a really humorous sort of way.
And so, in a single speech in Florida, Newt Gingrich has managed to illustrate exactly what is wrong with his campaign. Here’s hoping his ego is deflated enough after a slew of losses to do the right thing – for the Republican Party and, ultimately, the country.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:15 am
Matt Coulter,
He’s a ballsy fella, huh? Romney, who’s never lived anywhere near New York (I’m assuming he’s talking about NYC as the city where rapacious Wall Street thugs jackbooted the working man) nor anywhere near DC. Where Gingrich has lived. For 40 years. I seem to recall that city being fairly unpopular in the popular ethos as well. Ah, at least Newt’s fighting the establishment. That’s all we can ask.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:41 am
Florida President Quinnipiac
Romney 43
Gingrich 29
Santorum 11
Paul 11
Date: Jan 27-29, 2012
January 30th, 2012 at 7:43 am
Amen, Matt!
Gingrich is in this for himself and nothing else. It amazes me that the “anti-establishment” and Tea Party people are trying to rally to him…NEWT GINGRICH IS THE ESTABLISHMENT! HE’S JUST NOT POPULAR WITH THE REST OF THEM! Gingrich is THE CONSUMATE INSIDER! He’s been in D.C. for almost 4 decades now!
He may say that a longer nomination will be better, but it won’t. He’ll pull Mitt into the sludge that he came from.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:43 am
It’s hard to tell what a nutty person in meltdown mode will do.
Thinking logically with composure isn’t one of them…
January 30th, 2012 at 7:47 am
I still have this fear that Gingrich will run 3rd party.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:53 am
Newt. If he lacks a virtue, it’s because he’s kindly loaned it out to some undeserving jerk who won’t return it, the liar!
January 30th, 2012 at 8:02 am
He can run all he wants, but without money, its a waist of time and effort. If a Newt runs for the nomination, and no one hears him, is he really running?
January 30th, 2012 at 8:04 am
This is offensive.
Coulter:
fail.
Maybe you guys are not familiar with politics or how this game is played, but you brag about how smart you all are so much I guess I expected better. My bad.
Every candidate says this before a vote. Santorum has said virtually the same thing. To do otherwise would be to suppress your turnout on Tuesday.
Only in the group-think Borg of Romney Central does this become just another tool to use for character assassination.
Romney has shown a willingness to participate in the lowest form of politics.
I would be heartened if I believed for a second he would use the same tactic against Obama.
If he wins by destroying Gingrich he will have won nothing.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:07 am
Sure, Newt and his outsize ego are problematic.
On the other hand, just about everything is wrong with Mitt. For instance, the reason that an otherwise natural Romney ally won’t endorse him: Mitt’s obvious hispanic-baiting in place of a coherent immigration policy:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/jeb-bush-warned-romney-immigration-rhetoric/347841
Mitt Romney: He sucks less than Newt, but more than a Dyson vac.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:08 am
Questions about Newt’s sustainability:
Will his new “Mitt’s a total liar!” campaign slogan work for 5 more months?
Does he know any other casino owners?
Will any more Georgia State legislators endorse him?
Can he tap into the Fred Thompson mojo?
What if he’s offered a free cruise between now and then?
Can he debate inner city kids about their work ethic between now and the next real debate?
Why won’t he ask Ron Paul to drop out?
Does he like Ron more than Rick?
Did he promise Calista the moon?
Just some questions I have.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:15 am
MG. I missed out on Mitt’s hispanic baiting. Since his dad is from Mexico, maybe it was self-deprecating humor, and you didn’t catch on?
Are there any Hispanics out there waiting in line to immigrate? Is there a chance that only non-Hispanics wait in line? Is it possible that accusing Mitt of Hispanic baiting is really Hispanic dissing because you don’t expect them to wait in line, and therefore they don’t wait in line? Is there any context where calling everyone to obey the law is really singling some group out for “baiting”?
I’m trying to find myself a map out of this kind of logic. I fear I’ve stumbled into a matrix of some sort.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:17 am
8
If you think for a SECOND that Noot is trying to win without destroying ROMNEY, you’re nuts.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:19 am
teledude,
Romney is not a knife-fighter, personally. He’s not a brawler, personally. He’s more like an accomplished fencer, personally. But when somebody tries to garrote him, he knows to take off the button. But this is all a commentary on Romney’s personal style. He is, in fact, a knife-fighter and brawler indirectly. Anyone who fears that he’ll get gun-shy in a general election, won’t leak anything and everything, won’t send out surrogates to pound Obama into mincemeat, won’t spread rumors and innuendo, has paid no attention to how he’s conducted himself politically over the last 5 years. The more I consider the race, the more I feel that some of the people who passed up running- Ryan for instance- probably just wanted to stay away from Mitt’s Mincemeat Machine. Perry- the only late entrant- was notably disconnected from beltway politics and probably didn’t know much about how Romney ran his campaigns.
Think of this: the only person to endorse Romney, from the ’08 race, is McCain who was such a sideshow for most of ’07, that Romney never had any incentive to attack him. By the time the war-machine geared up- post Iowa- it was pretty much too late and Romney’s incentives, when facing a probable nominee McCain, had changed. All this to say I can’t tell you whether Romney will win the general election but I can tell you the notion that he’s trying to destroy Newt out of some personal vendetta- rather than out of the same simple, analytical strategic calculations he’ll make in a general election- is folly. Romney doesn’t have personal vendettas. He doesn’t rage incoherently and to no purpose. He doesn’t make things go smash. That’s Newt’s bag. If he’s destroying you it’s because he thinks you need destroying. And there’s no evidence that political instinct will fade once he’s out of the primary.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:27 am
In other news, Romney’s overpaid campaign poobahs and gurus gush about their superiority to the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/politics/the-calculations-that-led-romney-to-the-warpath.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
So the bigwigs in Team Mitt are already giving themselves credit for future victories, with only a single line of credit to the candidate who pays them in the next-to-last paragraph of the story (see link). This way, when Mitt loses the general election to the O Man, these most excellent of political consultants can still demand six-figure salaries: All the wins are theirs, all their losses will be Mitt’s alone.
Can any of these turkeys come up with a reason for folks to want to vote for Mitt?
January 30th, 2012 at 8:27 am
14. Emphasis added, btw.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:28 am
What Gingrich is offering is bravado. He’ll stay in as long as his money holds out and as long as some wins keep coming.
I would dispute your account of the 2008 Democratic Primary. The 3 a.m. phone call ad was devestating and was re-used by Republicans in the Fall. It didn’t matter much, but it was reused.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:29 am
WE CAN’T afford This thing going to Tampa convention period! I believe am i wrong ?
January 30th, 2012 at 8:33 am
Watchin’
You correctly point out that Mitt has modulated since the Iowa debates and caucuses. It seems to me that he probably got significant blowback from Jeb and Marco, among others. He still lacks a serious proposal for what to do with 12 million illegals, but that doesn’t make him exponentially worse than anyone else. We’ll write that down as an improvement.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:49 am
1. “Mr. Gingrich said… he didn’t agree with polls that show him trailing in Florida.”
2. “When you add the two conservatives together we clearly beat Romney.”
SO . . . .
The Newtron can’t keep his lies straight.
IF he really is ahead in the polls THEN you wouldn’t need to “add the two conservatives together”.
BUT IF you have to “add the two conservatives together” to “beat Romney” THEN you aren’t ahead in the polls.
Ah, tis the effect of a frenzied mind.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:00 am
8. yet in your book, it’s just peachy for newt to go around telling lies about Mitt Romney? Newt’s whole life is one huge lie. but you support him because… your queen told you so?
January 30th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Someone needs to tell Newt that he only runs 10% better than Romney as second choice of Santorum voters, so even if he does believe the polls there is no way Santorum dropping out could make up the difference for him.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Jon Stewart’s comments to Newt Gingrich summs it up the best.
“You, the former Speaker of the House and Freddie Mac consulting millionaire, are the Washington insider. When Washington gets its prostate checked, it tickles you!”
January 30th, 2012 at 10:10 am
14 Marq
Why is it that 71% of the republican party are against the Newtered one?
January 30th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Newt, get over yourself already. Take your ego and be gone already. Mitt is the man!
January 30th, 2012 at 11:22 am
Gingrich is a liar…..an egomaniac…..more specifically, a hypomanic. And a jerk.
January 30th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Just wondering … Does that mean he’s about done? You know, when the coach says he not leaving school A, it means he is talking to school B and will announce right after the next game that he is leaving.
Didn’t Perry and others say right before the last couple of primaries that they weren’t going to quit, and then promptly quit right after that?
I think that as soon as you have to SAY that you aren’t quitting, it kind of means that you are seriously considering quitting.
Now Ron Paul, I think he IS in until the convention, because he isn’t really out to win the nomination but rather to get his message out and part of the party platform.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just wishfull thinking on my part …
I’d LOVE to see debates from here to the convention with Romney / Santorum / Paul. They would be great “ideas” debates, with serious discussions of serious issues. I’d LOVE to see a intelligent debate between Paul and Romney on economic policy …. does the Fed do more harm than good and what are the good and bad things the Fed does, massive changes to the Tax Code and the pros and cons of those. I’d love to see an intelligent debate on immigration between Santorum and Romney, or on social policy.
If those three are still in, they are “ideas” kind of people and I think we’d have a lively debate on the ideas. Gingrich is a showman. When he is in the debate, it about showmanship, theatrics, entertainment, one-liners and zingers, but not about IDEAS. Which is too bad, because I think Gingrich does actually have some ideas worth discussing, but is STYLE is about showmanship not ideas.
January 30th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
You got to be kidding ! I heard it before in the Kennedy – Nixon race but I am still shocked to hear ” I am voting for him because he is handsome” . Wake up lady ! If Mitt Romney looks like Barbie’s Ken that does NOT qualify Mitt Romney to be President of The United States. OMG how shallow …………..
Additionally pollster Towery said Gingrich is doing “substantially better” with men than Romney, 38 to 28, but the former House Speaker still faces a “gender gap,” as women are still favoring Romney.
Please Ladies think about this. Ken Oups ! I mean Mitt Romney was empty whole companies into his pockets putting working women and men into the streets. Then sent their jobs to China and Mexico. Mitt Romney was also raided retirement funds and put the money in his pockets also robbing women and men of security in their Golden Years. Mitt Romeny is receiving the working women and men sweat and blood at a rate of over $51,000 DOLLARS a DAY as income !!!!! Anything goes to make a dollar is NOT Capitalism. The drug dealer or corporate raider are both wrong. The business venture was three separate parameters is it moral, ethical, or legal. The drug dealer is immoral and illegal. Mitt Romney is immoral and unethical. Mitt Romney is not and NEVER was in business to create jobs. Mitt Romney wants to make money and any human cost incurred is inconsequential. That includes human cost to women who think Mitt Romney should be President because he is handsome or looks like Ken.
Ladies PLEASE reconsider !!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot is a stake here.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
this guy is so smart…except he forgot to mention that both of these candidate are so stupid neither one has any chance of beating obama…if you look at the polls (i guess the ones this guy loves) it does show mittens tied in a hypothetical contest with obama.. but hmmm it also shows paul with the same chance (figuring in the margin of error)…so since this guy evidently figures paul has no chance at all of even getting the nomination it must be said mittens has no chance either…it really does amaze me to think republicans think they have much of a chance beating obama with mittens….if they would just support paul it is in the bag…but when they get done ignorng paul and/or humoring him they will be sad to see none of pauls supporters will go there way and many undoubtedly will vote for obama so as not to reinforce any of those neocon agendas
January 30th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
#27,Mitt has good ideas to make money and turned around the fail companies,he is so smart,he can use his leadership to turn this country around,Mitt is the most experienced leader candidate for president in the America history,a wealthy man can lead a country to become a wealthy country too.Mitt is the right leader for the right country at the right time.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
The Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church??? And here all this time I have needlessly been attending the boring Baptist church down the street.
January 31st, 2012 at 10:30 am
I think I smell another book deal for Newt. I’m guessing the title will be, “Let’s Talk About ME!”