HUGE: Gingrich Tennessee Co-Chair Resigns and Endorses Rick Santorum

Posted on | March 3, 2012 | 37 Comments

State Sen. Stacey Campfield, co-chairman of Newt Gingrich’s campaign in Tennessee, announced today he is quitting that position to support Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential race.
The Knoxville Republican made his announcement in a post on his blog. In an interview, Campfield said he believes that conservatives need to unite behind a single candidate and that Santorum is best positioned to defeat “establishment Republican” candidate Mitt Romney.

Campfield’s blog post offers an extremely nuanced argument: He admires Newt, he prefers Newt, but he has come to grips with the simple fact that Newt can’t win. If conservatives are serious about stopping Romney, they have to get behind Santorum:

[T]he conservative with the momentum and ability to still make it happen is Rick Santorum. . . .
I am stepping down as the statewide co chairman for Newt Gingrich and throwing all of my support behind Rick Santorum. Going with me are the top 3 second congressional district delegates for Newt (Dr. Lenard Brown, Dr. Aaron Margulise and Scott Smith). We all now throw our support behind Rick Santorum and hope for his success. We encourage other people who are supporting other candidates (not just in Tennessee but across the nation) to follow suit and throw your support behind Rick Santorum so we can coalesce and have a conservative to lead our party, and our country back to victory and prosperity.

Campfield and his colleagues deserve praise for this tough, pragmatic decision. Santorum has dipped in the most recent national polls, and I made no secret of my bitter disappointment with the outcome in Michigan, which I saw as the result of the Santorum campaign’s self-inflicted wounds.

Nevertheless, Santorum still leads in Ohio and he also leads in Tennessee, where Newt is running a distant third. Whatever errors Santorum has made in recent weeks, it is still not too late for him to learn from his mistakes and recapture his lost momentum. If Santorum can win Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma on Tuesday, the contest for the GOP nomination will then clearly be a two-man race. And if conservatives are serious about stopping Romney — as serious as Sen. Campfield is — then there will still be a fighting chance, with a candidate who has shown a willingness to fight the tough fights.

“Where’s the Spirit? Where’s the Guts, Huh?”

Category: Election 2012, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Tennessee

Comments

37 Responses to “HUGE: Gingrich Tennessee Co-Chair Resigns and Endorses Rick Santorum”

Adjoran
March 3rd, 2012 @ 3:41 pm

Also HUGE is the fact that Santorum failed to properly submit delegate slates in Ohio, so there are several districts he can’t win delegates for even if he “wins.” Just like Virginia, too little attention to the details of the rules.

But he could run the country, sure, no problem, right?

http://tinyurl.com/7q95ev6
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 3rd, 2012 @ 3:48 pm

Off topic, but you might like it for a laugh…

And Stacy, this would be huge if it were involving Romney and Santorum. But Newt? Too little, too late. It is not even Georgia where Newt might have a chance.

Any news on Washington State yet?
elaine
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:01 pm

Isn’t that a false equivalency there? I mean, it’s been established that Santorum has been running his campaign on a shoestring budget, with his own family members being the bulk of his staff for a very long time. It’s not like Rick had the money to hire pro campaign staffers whose sole job is ensuring that every “i” is dotted and “t” crossed when it comes to the myriad ballot access laws across the country.

As President, he’d have plenty of staff — and taxpayer funds to pay their salaries — to take care of every little detail.

Does it make him look like a pro that his campaign overlooked this? No. Is it grounds to not vote for him? Given the other choices, I’d say no.
noprisoners49
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:11 pm

Now we know why Newt supporters Tennessee couldn’t get help from the state campaign HQ – this was planned from the beginning.
Adjoran
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:22 pm

If you are running for President, isn’t the FIRST job of the campaign – if you are serious about it – sitting down and reviewing the ballot requirements for each state’s primary or caucus? You can’t win if you aren’t on them.

This isn’t rocket science. Others have qualified for the Ohio ballot over the years without large campaign chests. It doesn’t cost anything to submit the full slate of delegates; it’s just a matter of knowing the rules and following them.

What, he couldn’t afford a phone call, a web search, a stamp for a letter to the state party?

He couldn’t even qualify for the ballot in his home state, and now this.
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:27 pm

No. Obama didn’t campaign in Michigan in 2008, and still took a large number of delegates.

A prime argument for Obama’s fitness for office was his running his campaign. And he got delegates in states he ignored.
Lisa Graas
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:28 pm

I got spirit! Woot!
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:31 pm

Not really surprising that Gingrich’s machine is coming apart. Folks have to look to the future, and Gingrich won’t be in a position to reward acts of loyalty toward him; or betrayals of Romney and Santorum. State Senators, of all people, understand that.
richard mcenroe
March 3rd, 2012 @ 4:55 pm

And it’s Newt; you couldn’t trust his to dance with the ones what brung him even if he was in a position to:

“Conservatives didn’t trust him,” recalled John Feehery,
an aide at the time to House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who
chaperoned Gingrich to meetings with the president to keep them from
making deals. Throughout the four years Clinton’s aides, too, maneuvered
to keep the president and House speaker from being alone together…”
Mike Rogers
March 3rd, 2012 @ 5:01 pm

And right after Newt wins his first (long distance) debate with Bammo, too:
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/29/obama-loses-his-first-debate
On the other hand, American Thinker has joined “the saints”:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/03/santorums_intellectual_evolution_to_a_strong_constitutional_conservative.html
Either way, those two need to develop a joint strategery to take down Mittens, stat!
I would add one note of caution, because the last time you said something like this, a campaign self-destructed:
“I made no secret of my bitter disappointment with the outcome in Michigan, which I saw as the result of the Santorum campaign’s self-inflicted wounds.”
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 5:21 pm

Why would Clinton’s aides want to keep Gingrich away if the former Speaker was so fond of making deals?

Were I a Clinton aide, and Gingrich that way, I’d want him sequestered in the WH every day.
richard mcenroe
March 3rd, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

Because he and Clinton were two sides of the same coin. They’d have taken turns F***ing over each other’s bases.
MidWestGuy
March 3rd, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

If Santorum wounded himself in Michigan, why is he now going to “learn from his mistakes”? How?

As for not having a full slate of delegates in Ohio, Santorum has been running for President for years: even moving to Iowa. He saturated that state. Did he think the Iowa Caucuses were the end of the road, and not prepare for contests down the road? Looks like it. Santorum has conservative credentials. He doesn’t have small government credentials.
ThePaganTemple
March 3rd, 2012 @ 5:53 pm

All I know is I’m going to be voting in the Kentucky primary come what may, and I already know who I’m going to vote for. All I have to do is remember to bring my pen in case they don’t supply one.
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 6:22 pm

That doesn’t sound like Clinton. For all his faults, he is as loyal to his base and they are to him.
Stroker97
March 3rd, 2012 @ 6:42 pm

This Jerk should do the honorable thing now and resign. Someone who would sabatoge a candidates campaign is not fit to serve hotdogs, let alone as a state senator!
Stroker97
March 3rd, 2012 @ 6:49 pm

http://19792012mozartvanbeethoven.blogspot.com/2012/02/links-regarding-newts-innocence-and.html
Kelsonus
March 3rd, 2012 @ 6:50 pm

If Campfield had made this decision after Tenn’s primary, I might have respect for him….might
richard mcenroe
March 3rd, 2012 @ 7:04 pm

Ask his base about welfare reform, and bombing Sarajevo, oh, and about lying to them on the whole sex thing. Strangely, several of them seemed upset about having to defend him…
For What It’s Worth
March 3rd, 2012 @ 7:37 pm

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Adjoran
March 3rd, 2012 @ 7:52 pm

What color is the sky in your world?
Confutus
March 3rd, 2012 @ 7:56 pm

Obama might not have campaigned in Michigan, but I’m pretty sure he at least got himself on the ballot.

Santorum is about to provide an illustration of why failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Campfield has jumped off a sinking ship onto one that’s taking water and can’t miss the rocks.
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 8:15 pm

They weren’t that upset at having to support him. They still aren’t. If they were upset, that would mean they have a functioning ability to distinguish right from wrong, and they wouldn’t continue to support wrong.
DaveO
March 3rd, 2012 @ 8:24 pm

No, Obama had his name removed from the ballot in Michigan in October 2007. Only Hillary Clinton, Kucenich and Gravel had their names on the ballot.

Giving Obama delegates is what caused the schism that created the PUMAs.
Confutus
March 3rd, 2012 @ 10:03 pm

Now that you mention it, I remember something about that. Checking up, I find that Michigan held an early primary, was penalized by the Democratic National Committee, and Obama, Biden, Richarsdson, and Edwards withdrew from the state in protest. Kucinich tried to withdraw but failed, and Dodd dropped out of the race before the primary. But withdrawing once on the ballot is an entirely different thing than not qualifying in the first place.
Tennwriter
March 3rd, 2012 @ 10:13 pm

Senator Campfield is one of our best in Tennessee, a real conservative. And I’d think that even if he had stayed with Newt (who I like, but not as much as Santorum).

Hopefully, I will one day be voting for Gov. Campfield.
Multimedia Group
March 3rd, 2012 @ 11:15 pm

Actually, Rick has shown a LOT more ability to run the country than Mitt. With just his own wits, some family members and the hard work of a skeleton crew, he has emerged as the better alternative to Mitt. Meanwhile, Mitt has spent the last 8 years running for president and has not been able to close the deal despite millions of dollars spent and a slash and burn MO.

To me, this proves that Mitt, while probably more qualified to run the country than Obama, is not nearly as resourceful or smart as Santorum. In fact, it doesn’t take a lot of scrutiny of the Romney campaign to see that they bungle things just as often as anyone else.

And yes, Mitt could run the country but evidence shows that Rick would run it better.
Multimedia Group
March 3rd, 2012 @ 11:19 pm

A.) He’s not a jerk
B.) I think the whole point of this post is that he DID just resign.
Lpraney76
March 3rd, 2012 @ 11:52 pm

Little Ricky is no where near smart enough to run this country,much less turn it around. For this jerk Campfield to do this is disgusting. I live in Tennessee and will proudly cast my vote for Newt this Tuesday.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 4th, 2012 @ 1:27 am

http://badblue.bitnamiapp.com/p.php?sid=10276286 This is cool, they are linking this story through this news service.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
March 4th, 2012 @ 3:10 am

SNL went after Mitch tonight, but their portrayal of Shepard Smith was…well it was quite good.
thatlisagirl
March 4th, 2012 @ 9:43 am

So, despite the fact that this man was for and prefers Newt, he will throw his support behind Santorum in order to defeat Romney? People, this process is about nominating the candidate for the POTUS. Obama has to go! Obama was elected based on the big picture, unrealistic, buzz word promises without the expericnce to back them up…the hope remains and change was quite negative. This is what we have to fight. Yet, Obama’s chances for re-election are GOOD- simply amazing. We need the candidate that has the proven, documented track record of success- not a gloss over, broad brush stroke, sypathy speak candidate. This nomination is part one of the most public job interview anyone can have. You need to vote for who YOU believe can do the best job, not who you THINK can win. This is not a popularity contest.
ThePaganTemple
March 4th, 2012 @ 10:14 am

Actually yes it is a popularity contest. Most people just haven’t caught on to that yet. Do you actually think the voters who decide elections do so based on actual policy positions, or ide0logy, or anything substantial? No. And what’s really sad is a Democrat can tromp all over the Constitution (otherwise known as a typical Democrat day) and still the only way the asshat gets voted out is if he absolutely wrecks the economy in the process. That’s why this country is screwed, and why its going to stay screwed.
Pathfinder's wife
March 4th, 2012 @ 10:28 am

On the flip side: how worthy is a canidate who has all the resources a big budget can provide and still cannot seal the deal?
richard mcenroe
March 4th, 2012 @ 11:54 am

Don’t know why I hadn’t done this sooner, but you’re added to my blogroll
Dsrooks
March 5th, 2012 @ 12:00 pm

Please take this in the calm spirit in which I intend it. Do you sincerely believe that is a valid criticism? Rick Santorum did not enter this race with a personal fortune. He campaigned here in Iowa in a Dodge pickup truck, covering every county in townhall meetings. Every one of his competitors had buses, transports, and a huge entourage following them. Rick had one part time person traveling with him. The failure to get all the paper work done in Ohio is not for lack of personal organization or work ethic. This man has accomplished more in the campaign on less money that anyone else. Give him a break. One man, with little money and very few staff can only do so much. As his popularity grows, his staff grows and his organization gets stronger. But don’t fault him for not having the funding everyone else did. His work ethic is unimpeachable.
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March 7th, 2012 @ 3:03 pm

[…] We Were Out, Rush Limbaugh Apologized and Romney Won the Washington State GOP CaucusesMarch 3: HUGE: Gingrich Tennessee Co-Chair Resigns and Endorses Rick SantorumFeb. 29: Memo From the National Affairs Desk: ‘If I Could Walk That Way …’/**/ […]