Who the Hell Does Newt Think He Is?

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.
Monday night in the spin room after the Fox News debate in Myrtle Beach, I had the opportunity to score a brief interview with Rick Santorum’s campaign manager Mike Biundo, which included this exchange:

RSM: A lot of people in the media are trying to play this up as Mitt versus Newt. They’re kind of low-rating your chances here.
BIUNDO: Well, they’ve been doing that all along, haven’t they? And we’re 2-and-0 versus Newt Gingrich right now. You know, you see what happened in Texas this weekend, and conservatives are starting to rally behind Rick’s campaign.

The fact that Santorum beat Gingrich in New Hampshire has been woefully underreported. As the Boston Globe pointed out, it appeared late on primary night and into the next morning that Gingrich had won fourth place. But when the final votes were tallied, Santorum took fourth by a margin of 138 votes, with 23,312 votes to Gingrich’s 23,174.

Meanwhile, as Byron York reported Monday, it is still quite possible that the final official count in Iowa will show that Santorum defeated Mitt Romney there, and Santorum is planning for a long campaign:

“This nomination is not going to be decided in two or three states, it’s going to be decided over a long primary process,” he said. “We’re optimistic that we can pull out a win here and stop this narrative that [Romney’s nomination] is inevitable.”

With that background, then, it is shocking to see what Newt said today during a campaign stop in Florence, S.C. :

A reporter asked the former House speaker if the former Pennsylvania senator should drop out of the race. “Well I would be delighted if he decided to endorse me,” Gingrich said, but added it was Santorum and Perry’s decision to make.
“So I am respectful that Rick has every right to run as long as he feels that’s what he should do, but from the stand point of the conservative movement, consolidating into a Gingrich candidacy would in fact virtually guarantee a victory on Saturday,” Gingrich said in Florence Tuesday. “And I’d be delighted if either Perry or Santorum wanted to do that.”

What the hell kind of talk is that, coming from a guy who placed fourth in Iowa (13%) and fifth in New Hampshire (9%), especially in regard to Santorum, who fought Romney to a standstill in Iowa?

Yesterday, Santorum was endorsed by Penny Nance of Conservative Women for America. Today, Santorum was endorsed by Richard Viguerie, a legendary figure in the conservative movement, and also endorsed by the chairman of the Berkeley County (S.C.) Republican Party.

Newt’s suggestion that Santorum should be “consolidating into a Gingrich candidacy” is preposterous and insulting, and enough to make me want to post this attack ad from Romney’s “super PAC,” just for spite:

70 comments

  4.  To be fair to Newt, he wasn’t the one that brought up the concept of Santorum dropping out and endorsing him.

    I’m sure if Santorum was asked how he’d feel about Gingrich dropping out and endorsing him, that he’d be equally enthusiastic.

  5. I will gladly reserve the right to vote for a “milquetoast” if I think that person, for whatever reason, is a more suitable canidate than another.

    There are worse things than being a milquetoast in this world; in fact, it’s a crying pity some of the more destructive leaders were not a little more milquetoast-y.

  6. Yeah, Erick even said a couple days ago that  barring a miracle by the Perry campaign, that Newt has the best chance to stop Romney.

  8. Your memory must be different than mine, because I remember Ronald Reagan being absolutely reviled by the media for pretty much the entirety of the 1980s.
     

  10. This is also the Newt that’s giving Romney a serious run for his money.

    The Rasmussen national poll taken after the Monday debate:

    Romney 30, Gingrich 27, Santorum 15, Paul 13, Perry 4.  That’s +11 for Newt and -6 for Santorum from two weeks ago.

    Among voters that describe themselves as Very Conservative: Gingrich 35, Romney 25, Santorum 18.

    Among Tea Party voters: Gingrich 39, Romney 21, Santorum 20.

    If Santorum can’t beat Romney among Very Conservative voters or among Tea Party voters, Santorum ain’t gonna beat Romney period.

  14. “Santorum, who fought Romney to a standstill in Iowa”

    Ha! Santorum didn’t halt Romney. Romney halted Romney. Santorum didn’t halt Newt in Iowa, lies from Pro-Romney SuperPACs did. As far as the whole, “OMG-Santorum-came-in-4th-and-NEWTY-CAME-IN-5th!!” argument, wtf? If the  difference between 4th place and 5th place was a few thousand votes, then maybe there would be some credibility there. But when the difference is 0.59%, who the fuck cares? They tied in New Hampshire. Period.

  15. I agree Dan. Someone (i forget who) likened Newt to the “Honey Badger” after this last debate. Here’s video that was referenced: http://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg

  17. Actually, they stabbed Newt in the back because, like most congressional “conservative, ” they were gutless cowards buffaloed by the leftist MSM, which, along with the Dems, were terrified of Mitt.

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