The Other McCain

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Newt Neutered: Gingrich’s Pathetic Shadow Campaign Stumbles Onward

Posted on | April 2, 2012 | 31 Comments

Being without means of transportation at the moment — thanks to the vigilant police officers of Livonia, Louisiana — I couldn’t have attended this, even if I’d wanted to, but I’m actually kind of glad I missed Newt Gingrich’s appearance today in nearby Frederick, Maryland. Byron York was there to witness Newt’s disgrace:

Strapped for cash and struggling to stay in the game after a series of losses in Southern states he thought he could win, Gingrich has in the last few days come up with a strategy to “redirect” his campaign. . . .
Almost daily, Gingrich is sending out signs that he ultimately expects Romney to win the delegates required to secure the nomination. . . .
Gingrich appears to concede that, barring some unforeseen happening, Romney will win the nomination. And Gingrich is also plainly recognizing that his own campaign is a shadow of what it was during his two hot streaks, in Iowa and South Carolina. The big blue NEWT bus is gone, the crowds are smaller, the staff is smaller. . . .

Dude. Not even a bus? Less than two weeks ago, Team Newt was rolling across rural Louisiana in a 10-car motorcade.

And I remember being in Fort Myers the day before the Florida primary when Newt flew in on his custom chartered jet.

That was barely two months ago, when Newt was burning through campaign cash at a rate of $190,000 a day! (Dividing his campaign’s January expenditures of $5.9 million by 31.) The obvious problem was – although the hired geniuses at Team Newt didn’t seem to see it this way — Florida was winner-take-all, so there was no consolation prize in delegates for second place, and being on the receiving end of a 14-point ass-kicking by Romney was an expensive embarrassment for Gingrich.

While he was jetting around the Sunshine State and blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in that doomed effort, of course, Newt was failing to build even the rudiments of a campaign organization in Colorado and Minnesota. So once he imploded in Nevada — heeding the misguided advice of his personal staff instead of his Nevada coordinators, blowing off an appearance with Gov. Brian Sandoval and otherwise auto-destructing his campaign in what was aptly described to me by one of his Nevada supporters as a “clusterf**k” — there was never any real chance of a Gingrich comeback.

Fourth place in Minnesota? And never mind, of course, that Newt placed third in Colorado, which Santorum won with a shoestring campaign operation that was little more than two guys in the basement of somebody’s house in Colorado Springs.

Anyway, the last time I saw Newt — in Baton Rouge, two nights before the Louisiana primary — I sat in the back of the room and listened quietly while he talked about how he had “helped design campaigns that won huge elections.” And then of course, he got 16 percent of the vote that Saturday, after he’d already secretly met with Romney in New Orleans, yet Gingrich still has the gall to show up in Frederick and accept $50 checks from little old ladies?

Good thing I missed it. It probably wouldn’t be ethical for a professional journalist to laugh out loud at a candidate. Or spit on him, either.

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Category: Election 2012, Maryland, Newt Gingrich

Comments

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/V54MMT2YDO46ECXGFICCMUCGBU Ford Prefect

    In many ways I like Newt. Of course, his personality doesn’t easily admit failure and, in a way, he will not have failed if he slowed Romney down enough to get us to the convention without our resident RINO candidate getting the requisite delegates.

    Remains to be seen.

  • http://twitter.com/alwaysfiredup alwaysfiredup

    Yet again, winning friends and influencing people.  You let me know how Santorum does in Wisconsin.

  • http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/ Evi L. Bloggerlady

    Newt has been a parody for a long time.  I am surprised anyone ever took him seriously at all in this race.  

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003143628072 Shelleys Playtime

    I wish I knew what he was up to. I can’t tell whether he is trying to hurt/help Santorum/Mitt or if he is just being a sore loser?

  • richard mcenroe

    schadenfreude is undignified when accompanied by giggling… especially by a hotshot Southern driver what got lit up in a nationally listed speed trap.

  • richard mcenroe

    One or two places above Newt again, most like.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Oh now wait a minute here. Who says we have to “Roll Over” and accept that Newt ain’t got a chance. Stranger things have happened, and I say Newt still has a chance. Who knows what unexpected events could suddenly turn things around for him? Don’t you people believe in miracles, by God?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003143628072 Shelleys Playtime

     Oh aren’t you just the funny one tonight!

  • demsaresatanic

    I think it is really sad that Gingrich continues on like this.

  • CPAguy

    Wow…Herman Cain still has a bus….lol…(I suppose that is where that “suspended” campaign cash goes to)

  • robertstacymccain

    Look, it’s a four-hour drive from Baton Rouge to Shreveport. I left Baton Rouge about 1 a.m. after having hit a deadline and — oh, yeah — never mind the fact I’d driven 1,000 miles in two days just to get to Baton Rouge. When I hit the road to Shreveport, my mind was focused on exactly one thing: How far could I drive before exhaustion kicked in?

    This was important, because I would obviously have to sleep sometime, and Santorum was scheduled to speak in Shreveport about 12:30 the next day. Ergo, I had about 11 hours to go, subtract four hours drive time, and there would be just about 7 hours for me to check into a motel, get some sleep, take a quick shower and get back on the road. Arguably, I could have picked the first cheap motel I found on the way out of Baton Rouge, but then I would have to drive the entire 4-hour trip to Shreveport in the morning. Better, it seemed to me, to try to reach a midway point (near Alexandria) and then have about 2-and-a-half hours to go: Wake up about 9, shower and be on the road before 10, and I’d be OK.

    All of this was weighing heavily on my mind, you see. I was already very tired and I was keeping one eye on the GPS — looking at the estimated time to Shreveport — as I high-tailed it up that highway. I was a man on as mission, and my mind was focused on the essential problem confronting me.

    Speed limit? I don’t even remember seeing any speed-limit signs. It was a four-lane hghway through rural area, in the middle of the night, with almost no traffic. For all I knew, the speed limit could have been 65 or 70, but the point is I could have driven as fast as that Toyota would go without any real safety risk other than the possibility that a deer might jump in front of me.

    However, once I had been pulled over and threatened with arrest, and standing behind my car, waiting for the officer to write the ticket, a glimmer of a memory hit me: I recalled having passed a car or two and thinking to myself at the time, “What the hell is wrong with these people, driving so damned slow on this fine stretch of open highway?”

    Oh, well . . .

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

     Hey, they all just clapped and Tinkerbelle survived!

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

     As long as you’re not drawing  a federal paycheck, a federal campaign account can pay your political expenses – including a salary for yourself. 

    That’s why Christine O’Donnell is always smiling.

  • robertstacymccain

    He never put his hand up my skirt.

  • JakeSnake

    I really don’t see how you guys can kick Newt while he’s down for his delusions, but not Santorum.  Both of these clowns are done, please show me a map to how either reaches 1144.

    At this point, I almost want Rick to stay in until PA, it will make a nice trophy for Romney.  Good luck with any future career plans if you lose your home state primary after losing your last election there by 20 points.  My guess is Toomey will likely get out on the campaign trail and make sure PA conservatives remember what a snake Santorum is.

  • Adobe_Walls

    Never apologize for speeding except of course to a judge or your wife when she sees the new rate.

  • CPAguy

    I wouldn’t care if he did…lol…

    Conservatives have let their tendency for prude and excessively PC behavior kill any likelihood of  “normal,” competent people (i.e. people who will not sell their soul for a vote and sweet campaign cash)  with real life experience (i.e. not a lawyer, son of a lawyer, or kin to another politician)  from running.

  • CPAguy

    Umm….Santorum isn’t polling 20 – 30 points behind Romney.

    It is important to note, that Romney trails 20 points in the polls to the “not Romney” candidate.

    Romney cannot win the Presidency.

    I’m not sure I want him to, anyway.

    If justices Thomas and Scalia can last another 4-5 years on the bench….

  • JakeSnake

    According to Gallup, Santorum is now polling 18 points behind Romney.

    All of this NotRomney “math” is how losers feel better about their candidate .

    Your guy either wins or he loses, and right now Romney has over twice the delegates, so the “NotSantorum” math is MUCH worse than the “NotRomney” math.

  • Wombat_socho

     Well played, TPT, well played. :)

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    Well, look on the bright side: another interesting chapter for the book.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    He’s a sad, pathetic man – all Narcissists are [see: Obama, Barack Hussein Soetoro].

  • http://iSnark.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

     I live in Georgia and have met people who worked with him when he was in Congress early in his career, so I would venture to answer: neither. He’s just being Newt.

  • Finrod Felagund

    Santorum is very likely to be the first candidate in the race to not win his home state by double digits, and he may not win PA at all.
     

  • Jeff Sullivan

    Threatened with arrest?  Dude… You mean you were less than gracious with the policeman?

    I refuse to believe it.

  • Pingback: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich: Two Political Peas In A Pod | Daily Pundit

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

     Just because I can’t resist a challenge, here you go. First off, Santorum absolutely has to win Wisconsin tonight, or its all but over. But if he does manage to win Wisconsin (he can forget about Maryland), then there’s a very narrow path for him, possibly, provided he pulls out a victory in the following states-

    Texas; New York; Pennsylvania (which he needs to win by at least five percent, hopefully more); North Carolina; Kentucky; West Virginia; Arkansas; South Dakota; Nebraska; Oregon; New Mexico;

    And yes, he has a narrow shot at New York, provided he gets the money to campaign and focuses on the Catholic vote and the Orthodox Jewish vote. It’s still a long shot, but there’s always the chance a low turnout of Romney voters could throw it to him.

    Like Maryland, the following states are out of the question for him-New Jersey; California; Delaware; Rhode Island; Connecticut.

    But even if he pulls this off, he’s got to work his ass off pulling as many delegates as he can out of the various state conventions, many of which will be held before most of these primaries. And he needs to concentrate on getting his fair share of delegates from Florida, and Ohio. He needs to especially concentrate on the state convention of Missouri, where he can make the case that he is deserving of the lion’s share there based on his win in that state’s earlier primary.

    It’s a hard, all but impossible task, but if he can pull it off, he might be able to make the case to an open convention that he’s the best person to face Obama in the fall, provided all these wins put his delegate count appreciable close to Romney’s.

    Then, it would still be an uphill battle, because so many party leaders have already thrown their lot to Romney. If there is a floor fight, it would be a hella ugly one. But there’s also a chance Newt could release his delegates to Santorum, and while that probably wouldn’t be enough to give him the delegates he needs, it could put him ahead of Romney.

    Is this all possible? Maybe, but its so highly unlikely its worse than hundred to one odds of it happening. And if he loses Wisconsin tonight, you can forget it.

  • Brad Swarm

    Even if he wins every state you mention, Santorum would have to win the proportional states with something like 90% of the vote to capture enough delegates.

    I honestly think if Romney died of a heart attack tomorrow, Santorum wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

    I would argue it was over a while ago, but it’s REALLY over tonight, and for the good of the GOP, he needs to drop his petty vendetta against Romney and withdraw from the race.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

     It was over really when he lost Ohio. That was the pivotal moment when it became obvious Romney is going to be the nominee. Tonight just sealed the deal.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

     I’m surprised I didn’t think of this before now.

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