Newt Gingrich Campaign Leaking Hot Air - Promise of Palin hire scares GOP insiders

[powergirl]

WASHINGTON -- What happened to Newt Gingrich? Less than a week after Gingrich's stunning triumph in South Carolina, air is leaking from his momentarily front-running campaign faster than a parade balloon's after Thanksgiving.

Besides the obvious fact that the new combat-enabled, armored-up Mitt Romney clobbered Gingrich last night, are there other reasons? Yes, based on conversations with Republican and campaign insiders here and in Florida:

•The Palin Factor. Some D.C.-based establishment types were preparing to reconcile themselves to former House Speaker Gingrich, if not outright endorse him, before or after the South Carolina primary last week. But according to one such insider, who asked not to be identified because of her prominent corporate lobbying role, Gingrich fatally said on Jan. 18 -- three days before the primary -- that he would offer former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin a "major role in the next administration if I'm president." That one statement scared the accept-Newt, Republican-establishment types. "That sure did it for me, and I think for a lot of other people in town," the lobbyist said.

•The Rubio Factor. The popular Cuban-American senator from Florida has not endorsed a candidate, but he doesn't need to. He devastated Gingrich by complaining -- vehemently -- about an ad the Gingrich campaign had run calling Romney "the most anti-immigrant candidate," and implying that Romney had parroted the words of Fidel Castro. On Wednesday, Rubio denounced the ad as "inaccurate, inflammatory and doesn't belong in this campaign." The Gingrich camp withdrew the ad.


And there are others at the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/newt-gingrich-florida-primary-gop_n_1237486.html?ref=politics

I love how the Republicans are hiding from the Hatriot/TeaHadists right now - but they embrace these doofuses in their party and say nothing about their antics until it affects them personally. Palin is all yours, Rethugs - enjoy!

[nanabugg]

1. Why should they be scared? this will bring a quick end to Newt's campaign. nt

[still_one]

3. I think they are scared because they worry if the tea party component will support romney /nt

[still_one]

2. The large base of the republican party today is the tea party. If the republican party piss enough

of them off, they will have problems.

Just survey free republic and you will get a sense of the anger they have toward what they consider the "moderate" elements in the republican party, who they view as trying to push romney down their throats

The Democratic party has always been a divided group, between liberals, moderates, and conservatives(blue dogs), but this is the first time I remember the republican party dividing among themselves as such

[Jackpine Radical]

5. That's because you're young.

I remember the 1952 Republican campaign when Douglas MacArthur ran against Ike & Robert A. Taft. That was quite a spread of political views. (I remember hearing Taft speak from the stage of the little local movie theater in my home town, pop. 1500. I was about 6, and my family took me.)

Or '64, when the spread of Republicanism ranged from Goldwater to Rockefeller.

Or, to go much further back, remember that the Progressive movement came out of the Republican Party. Teddy Roosevelt, Bob LaFollette, etc.

The modal Republican used to be a grumpy old small-town banker. Now they're mostly grumpy old, low-information rednecks.

[still_one]

7. Thanks, I wish I was that young, and I do remember Goldwater, Rockefeller, and Ike. However, as

You implied, my thoughts were after Nixon, where the southern strategy, lee Atwater, united the republicans in an ugly way, and since then the Democrts have had a difficult time staying on message, while the repugs sure were consistent

[HopeHoops]

4. She can see his campaign destruction from her house!

[Jackpine Radical]

6. I wonder if the Grinchies are doing any focus-group testing

on these loony (pun intended) ideas, or if the Salamander just makes them up on the spot, following the wisdom of his own genius.