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| Mass defections hit Gingrich campaign |
Word came down late afternoon today that mass defections have hit the campaign of Newt Gingrich. The former Speaker of the House, who is returning from a vacation in the Mediterranean, released a statement via Facebook saying, “I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles.”
Gone from the Gingrich team are Campaign Manager Rob Johnson, long time spokesman Rick Tyler, several of his top field operatives in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as other paid staff members.
While "a different vision for victory" was cited as the main reason for the exodus, there are several factors that probably played a part in the events of today.
1) Fundraising: Campaigns are expensive things and whatever streams of donations Gingrich enjoyed early on dried up after he called Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan "Right Wing Social Engineering" and "radical." Even though he called Ryan and apologized, donations had slowed to a trickle. The veteran campaigners who bailed today know there just isn't a comfortable amount of cash coming in to bankroll a 16 month campaign.
2) Lack of discipline: As cable pundits weighed in when Gingrich "finally" officially made his campaign announcement for the 2012 GOP nomination, the one thing they all seemed to agree on was could Newt Gingrich campaign in a disciplined way and not shoot his candidacy in the foot by saying something toxic. It didn't take long. When Gingrich appeared (for the 35th time) he made the startling remarks about the GOP Plan for Medicare. Damage control was initiated quickly, but the toothpaste was out of the tube. Conservatives united in their rejection of Gingrich's statement.
3) Bad time for a vacation: Gingrich's staff felt frustrated that he went overseas for vacation just when he needed to buckle down Stateside and start repairing the damage from the early days of the campaign. The Ryan comment, the matter of an unpaid bill at Tiffany's, dropping poll results, etc. all contributed to the staff deciding to leave. The trip to Greece cinched it.
Conservative media sources including Red State took little steps to paint a sympathetic picture of the Gingrich campaign today. Fox News called his campaign "imperiled." The Hill described his campaign style as "erratic." Red State.com's Erik Erickson said, "I think the odds of Newt being able to conduct a viable, sustained campaign are rapidly diminishing unless he does something bold quickly or has a knock out performance in the New Hampshire debate on Monday."
Its hard to explain why a candidate, universally hailed as one of the sharpest political minds of this generation could stumble so badly out of the blocks. I see three different paths forward for Mr. Gingrich. Its so bad for him right now that his national campaign co-chair, Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, also announced today that would no longer support a Gingrich run for nomination. Perdue quickly threw his support to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.
*Resume a low key campaign and hope that a few of the other GOP candidates slip as he has and then capitalize.
*Go for the five run home run or some shocking claim or policy that could overshadow the mistakes of the last few weeks.
*Quit and market his support to the highest bidder in the new GOP Administration.
We'll know more after his speech in Los Angeles on Sunday and then the debate on Monday evening in New Hampshire.
Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/09/sources-gingrich-aides-resign-en-masse-from-campaign/?test=latestnews
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165655-gingrich-campaign-suffers-mass-resignations
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/06/09/the-horserace-for-thursday-june-9-2011/
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165685-pawlenty-picks-up-endorsement-of-top-gingrich-supporter
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