January 29, 2012

Gingrich discounts polls suggesting Romney's up by double digits in Florida

After attending service at a mega Baptist Church north of Tampa, the former House Speaker said he's prepared to keep his campaign going -- no matter what happens Tuesday -- saying that the race will be closer than the polls suggest -- and that regardless, Mitt Romney won't get a majority.

"I think that the election will be substantially closer than the two polls that came out this morning," Gingrich said, noting polls as recently as two days ago showed him even with Romney. "The most significant thing in both the polls this morning is that when you add the two conservatives together, we clearly beat Romney. I think Romney’s got a very real challenge in trying to get a majority at the convention."

He dismissed Romney as a timid manager and cast himself as a big thinker, noting his plans for a lunar colony.

"I believe in an America of big solutions, big ideas," he said. "I believe if we unleash the American people, we will rebuild the American dream and I think the contrast between the timidity of a Massachusetts moderate who’s a manager and the boldness of a Reagan conservative whose prepared to be a visionary, prepared to talk about big solutions."

January 28, 2012

Gingrich cuts event short

Newt Gingrich arrived 55 minutes late to a sparsely attended event in Orlando Saturday, then dropped a planned town hall format after less than 7 minutes of remarks to mingle and pose for pictures.

“My competitor on Tuesday has money power,” Gingrich said, explaining why he was changing the format of the event.

“There’s no question he can raise more money from Wall Street than I can. And he has big institutions pouring money in here. What I want to do is have people power. So I want to chat with each one of you personally.and ask each of you to go out on Facebook and on You tube and on Twitter and email, even by telephone and talk to people face to face.”

Gingrich had billed the event as an Hispanic town hall at the Centro de la Familia Cristiana – Christian Family Center - in Orlando. But only about 60 people showed up, and about 420 of the roughly 480 seats went empty. Hosts twice asked people to move to the front rows and center seats to fill in the hall, as they waited for Gingrich.

He mentioned his call for a “Cuban spring,” and his call to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill.

He mentioned Romney twice – once in the opening about Romney’s campaign money and once to say that Romneycare is the same as Obamacare.

“We have a very big decision in a very short time," he said. "I want to ask you to talk to all of ytour friends and neighbors. I have a very simple case. We nominated a moderate in 1996 and we lost. We nominated a moderate in 2008 and we lost. I believe only a solid conservative can debate Barack Obama and win.”

Brokaw is "extremely uncomfortable" with Romney ad; NBC wants its content pulled

Mitt Romney has been running ad this weekend featuring a 1997 clip of Tom Brokaw, then the NBC Nightly News anchorman, describing Newt Gingrich's ethics reprimand.

Pull the NBC content, the network asked Saturday, and Brokaw also objected.

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"I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad," he said. "I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign."

 No comment from the Romney campaign yet.

Small crowd for Gingrich at Orlando town hall

Newt Gingrich Saturday was speaking to a sparsely attended town hall meeting at the Centro de la Familia Cristiana – Christian Family Center - in Orlando, where about 420 of the roughly 480 seats went empty.

Hosts asked people to move to the front rows and center seats to fill in the hall, as Gingrich delayed his entry past the scheduled 2:30 pm start.

Romney uses Tom Brokaw to make his case against Gingrich

 Mitt Romney's now using former "NBC Nightlly News" anchor Tom Brokaw to help make the case against Newt Gingrich.

In an ad released Saturday, Romney, vying for the GOP presidential nomination against the former House Speaker and two othres, brings up the 1997 House of Representatives vote to reprimand Gingrich for ethical lapses.

In the ad, the viewer sees Brokaw delivering the news that night:

“Good evening. Newt Gingrich, who came to power, after all, preaching a higher standard in American politics, a man who brought down another speaker on ethics accusations, tonight he has on his own record the judgment of his peers, Democrat and Republican alike. By an overwhelming vote, they found him guilty of ethics violations; they charged him a very large financial penalty, and they raised – several of them – raised serious questions about his future effectiveness.”

January 27, 2012

Jeb Bush: Gingrich efforts to tie Romney to Crist "ridiculous"

Newt Gingrich shouldn't chide Mitt Romney for having ties to former Charlie Crist staffers, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday.

Crist is disliked by many Republicans after leaving the 2010 GOP Senate primary and running as an independent. He lost to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Some of Crist's political staff now work for Romney.

But Crist is not on the ballot, Bush said.

“That’s not a serious accusation,” Bush told National Review Online, citing Gingrich's criticism.

“Candidates win elections. I’m not a big Charlie Crist fan, as you recall, but these guys shouldn’t have that moniker attached to them, as if Governor Romney is part of some evil plot. That’s ridiculous.”

Before home builders, Gingrich proposes revamping the EPA

The morning after another combative Republican primary debate, the former House Speaker emphasized his pro-business, anti regulation platform -- and his connections to Ronald Reagan as a young congressman -- in a speech before a Hispanic business group in Miami.

Not mentioned during the speech -- at least by name -- his GOP rival: Mitt Romney.

Speaking before the influential Latin Builders Association: Gingrich emphasized his years as speaker, when Congress passed welfare reform and balanced the federal budget. And he cast himself as an early champion of Reagan's supply-side economics in the early 80s.

Indeed, he promised to go back to the supply side "playbook" again if elected president: lowering taxes on corporations and gutting the federal bureaucracy. Among his proposals: erasing the Nixon-era Environmental Protection Agency -- what he dubbed a "dictatorial job-killing agency" -- and recasting it as the "Environmental Solutions Agency."

Continue reading "Before home builders, Gingrich proposes revamping the EPA"

Romney to Obama on economy: "You're out of your depth"

Mitt Romney grew up in Michigan, and he had a stark message Friday for President Barack Obama as he visited the state: "Mr. President," Romney said, "forgive me for being blunt, but when it comes to economic affairs, you’re out of your depth." 

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor seeking the Republican nomination to run against Obama, is the son of former Michigan  Gov. George Romney. Michigan holds its presidential primary Feb. 28.

Mitt Romney offered his views in an "open letter" to Obama, who was speaking in Ann Arbor Friday morning.

"I recognize, of course, as do all Americans, that you inherited an economic crisis. But you’ve now had three years to turn things around. The record of those three years is clear. Your policies have failed, and not only in Michigan, but across the nation," Romney wrote.

He told Obama his promises "now ring hollow."

After all, Romney said, "If you have brought new ideas to Michigan for creating jobs, why have you waited three years to unveil them? Have you suddenly had a revelation, or is it because 2012 is an election year?

"Whatever the case, what you are offering Michigan now is too little, too late. What Michigan needs, and what the country needs, is not four more years of economic mismanagement and failed leadership, but a fundamental change in direction. I was born and raised in Michigan at a time when our state was the pride of America. With new leadership, Michigan can feel that pride once more."

Florida poll: Mitt Romney opens up a lead over Newt Gingrich

With four days left before Florida's presidential primary, a new poll finds Mitt Romney opening up a considerable lead over Newt Gingrich -- 38 percent to 29 percent.

The pre-debate poll compares to a Jan. 25 survey by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University that showed the race in a statistical dead heat: Romney at 36 percent to Gingrich's 34 percent. The poll also had Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 14 percent, followed by former Penn. Sen. Rick Santorum at 12 percent.

The poll suggests that it's men who are changing their minds: In today's poll, men back Romney 36 percent to 29 percent, compared to backing Gingrich 37 percent to 33 percent just a few days ago. Romney continues to lead 40 percent to 30 percent among women, a number that's virtually unchanged.

Continue reading "Florida poll: Mitt Romney opens up a lead over Newt Gingrich"

January 26, 2012

Mitt Romney's congressional team shadows Newt Gingrich

Mitt Romney's campaign has enlisted members of Congress to shadow Newt Gingrich at his events -- spinning Gingrich's congressional record to reporters -- and irritating the Gingrich campaign.

Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz showed up at Gingrich's tea party rally today in Mount Dora, telling reporters that few members of Congress want to share a ballot with GIngrich.

"He'd drag them down," Chaffetz said. "He really scares me and scares most members."

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond confronted Chaffetz at the event, but the Huffington Post notes he was back shadowing Gingrich at a Jacksonville event later in the day. 

Asked whether he'd deploy his own observers, Gingrich said no: "He doesn't say anything worth rebutting," he said of Romney. "I would send someone if I thought it was a useful exercise."