A new poll places Newt Gingrich at second place nationally and has a few people wondering if this is the surge Newt’s been waiting for.
After a summertime purge/walkout of his consultant team, Newt eliminated his big ad and staff budget and focused on his forte: Debates and Big Ideas.
Seems to be paying off. After peaks of Bachmann, Perry and Cain, Gingrich is getting his turn in the spotlight.
In Iowa, Cain and Romney still lead the pack with Newt in third. But Cain and Romney have been falling lately in Iowa and voters have left both for Newt. Newt surged to second place in South Carolina, with Romney in third.
Gingrich has some benefits. He takes on the media in a way that gets Republican primary voters cheering. He has more ideas about any problem facing America than the rest of the field combined. Newt doesn’t have to memorize answers like Rick Perry does. He’s been debating these topics for close to 40 years.
And in debate after debate, he’s debating right past his fellow Republican candidates and constantly contrasting with Obama.
Smart. That’s probably why defectors from Romney, Cain and others don’t feel bad about shifting to Newt. Newt never attacks other Republicans and actually defends them with the press does.
Gingrich and Cain held a one-on-one debate last week in which he shone. Looked like a quarterfinal match heading into the semis against Romney.
Funny that it’s Romney. Newt seems to be tracking like Richard Nixon.
After years in the spotlight in office, Nixon lost two races and left government. As government became a disaster area after he left, he returned and had to face a primary opponent in a campaign for President……named Romney.
Newt led the conservative revolution in 1994 and left with the budget balanced and the nation’s economy booming. He’s returning with credibility in saying “I can fix this because I’ve done it before.” No one in this campaign, not even Obama, can say that.
Like Nixon, Newt is always the smartest candidate in the room. He’s seen it all, and it’s doubtful anything would surprise him. He’s got mountains of experience dealing with any issue, and when he challenges Obama to a series of 3-hour debates, no one doubts he will excel.
Romney is still leading most polls, but has a ceiling to his support that he just can’t break. A woman told me Romney is like that guy at the end of the bar who bought you drinks all night, but didn’t impress you, but at 2 AM he’s still there smiling at you. Interesting observation.
Herman Cain is living on energy. I haven’t met a single person who likes his 9-9-9 plan, and I think a proposal to have a national sales tax and an income tax is DOA. But he’s a passionate speaker who is easy to rally around. It’s also clear that this level of scrutiny was something he was ill-prepared for and he may be in over his head.
I was going to mention three things I like about Rick Perry, but I can’t remember them.
Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul could be dates to the party held on Prom Night for all the people who didn’t go to the prom. Rick Santorum keeps looking for his voice, but it’s just not there. He’s got a great record and a great blue-color riff, but it’s not selling on a national level.
People like experience. People like clarity. After years of having our candidates being written off by the media as dumb, Republicans may be warming up to nominating the smartest guy in the room.
