Newt's Upcoming Calendar

These are some of the events I have added to the above page "Upcoming Calendar." Check back on that page for future events.

-- Wednesday, April 13, 2011: Fundraiser in Atlanta, Georgia.

-- Saturday, April 16, 2011: Keynote speaker at Georgia's 9th District Convention.

-- Wednesday, April 20, 2011: "Live Free or Die Speaker Series." Manchester, New Hampshire.

-- Wednesday, April 27, 2011: Speaker at National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. Washington, D.C.

-- Thursday, April 28, 2011: Speaking at National Rifle Association's Annual Convention. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

-- Friday, April 29, 2011: Premiere of A City Upon the Hill, Washington, D.C.

-- Thursday, May 5, 2011: FOX News Debate. Greenville, South Carolina.

-- Friday, May 13, 2011: Speech at Georgia Republican Convention. Macon, Georgia.

-- Saturday, May 14, 2011: Commencement Speech at Eureka College. Eureka, Illinois. (Ronald Reagan's alma mater.)

-- Friday, May 20, 2011: Ida County, IA, GOP Fundraiser. Holstein, Iowa.

-- Wednesday, May 25, 2011: Speaking before Ovide Lamontagne's Granite Oath PAC. Manchester, New Hampshire.

Newt is hosting first fundraiser Wednesday with some familiar names

This upcoming Wednesday, in Atlanta, Newt will be joined by current Georgia Governor Nathan Deal; his predecessor, Sonny Perdue; and former U.S. Senator Zell Miller. It will be the first major fundraiser of a possible Gingrich campaign.

Deal was one of the first public officials to endorse Newt back in January.

Perdue did the same in March.

Miller is expected to be a national co-chairman of the campaign.

Newt to be at May 5 South Carolina GOP debate

He will be joined, according to reports, by Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Buddy Roemer, and Tim Pawlenty.

Newt comes in 2nd again in a South Carolina straw poll

The second South Carolina Presidential straw poll of the year occurred this morning, and Newt, as he did last weekend, came in second. However, the winner today was not former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- whose absence from the important early primary state put him in a three-way tie for fifth place.

Rick Santorum, who, CNN notes, has visited the Palmetto State more than any other possible candidate, won with 31% of the ballots cast at the Greenville County GOP convention. Newt received 14%.

Next weekend the Lexington and Charleston County Republican Parties hold straw polls.

Newt's "10 Steps to a Stable Governing Majority"

From his weekly newsletter:

1. Do not focus on November 2012. Instead, focus on January 2021. The goal between now and January 2021 should be to govern so well, communicate so clearly, and include Americans from all backgrounds so consistently that a second wave of House Republicans will be sworn into office in January 2021 to build a better future around our values and principles.

2. Fight for the values of the American people. Set up a series of choices in which you are defending the values and beliefs of the vast majority of American and the Democrats are defending those of the Washington establishment and left-wing elite.

3. American Exceptionalism Matters. Americans overwhelmingly believe America is an exceptional country. Yet President Obama and many Democrats seem intent on denying it. This has clear implications for policy debates, which can be framed around the historic American habits and principles that are the source of our exceptionalism.

4. Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less. Americans want an American energy policy (see our work at American Solutions) while Obama wants to borrow from the Chinese to buy oil from the Brazilians. An American energy plan from the House GOP would create a clear policy choice and put Republicans on the side of the American people.

5. Focus on Communication. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had a rule: "First you win the argument then you win the vote." In the end, having the right policies won't matter if you fail to communicate them effectively. The budget debate will be an example of where this is essential.

6. Inclusion, not outreach. Outreach is when insiders make a decision and then start calling people to tell them what it is. Inclusion is when they are in the room to discuss the challenges and help reach the decisions. Inclusion will require deep changes in scheduling, staffing, internships, communications, and networking.

7. Be smart, not cheap. Get to a balanced budget by being smart rather than cheap. Cutting spending in areas that produce long term savings, such as the National Institutes of Health is destructive to the goal of a sustainable, balanced budget.

8. Boldness will be rewarded. House Republicans should consider it their duty to pass the changes America needs and rally the American people to put pressure on the 23 Democratic Senate seats and the Democratic president. The country will only understand the need to replace Democrats in the Senate and the White House if they see House Republicans offering bold solutions. House GOP timidity would lead the tea parties and activists (including talk radio) to focus their frustration on House Republicans. Boldness will convince them to focus on Democratic opposition to our solutions.

9. A Contract with America in 2012. Begin now to develop bold proposals for a 2012 Contract with America including a Tenth Amendment implementation bill and a job creation bill, featuring tax cuts, deregulation, litigation reform, and American energy development. The American people need to see what a Republican team would be like so they have a lot of reasons to give us 40 more House seats, a dozen Senate seats and the White House.

10. Cheerful persistence will be the key habit for success. There will inevitably be tension, arguments, frustrations and internal dissent and conflict. Working through issues with the leadership so a unified Republican team can be creative and effective will take enormous patience and persistence. It is best done cheerfully.

Newt also mentions that the Gingrich Foundation is honoring the Autism Society this month.

News Roundup: Bush tax cuts, other tax cut plans, and speaking in Georgia's 9th district

-- From Sentinel Source (NH): “If we do our job right in 2012, we can say the era of big government is over and mean it,” Gingrich said.

-- The Boston Globe writes:

Getting people off unemployment, welfare, and Medicaid rolls and into the work force is the best way to balance the federal budget, Gingrich told students at Saint Anselm College in Manchester during the first of three scheduled stops in New Hampshire.

The possible Republican presidential candidate said the goal should be to get the unemployment rate down from levels as high as 11 1/2 percent to 4 percent, which he said was the rate when he led the House in the 1990s.

"That shift of 7 1/2 percent [for people] who are depending on the government [into] being taxpayers is the single biggest step you can take back toward balancing the budget," he said.

Gingrich called for reducing to zero the capital gains tax, making permanent the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, allowing companies to write off 100 percent of new equipment purchases in the first year, and eliminating the estate tax.

He also called for a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, saying a reasonable tax rate would stop such companies as General Electric from sheltering profits to avoid paying federal taxes.

Gingrich said jobs began to be added after President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts but businesses would remain leery of adding jobs because those tax cuts are set to expire in 2013.

"It’s not bad luck that we have high unemployment; it’s bad policies," he said.

Gingrich said that he expected to open a campaign office soon in Georgia and that if he decides to run for president, he probably will announce it next month.

-- Newt will be the first speaker in the "live free or die speaker series," which is being put on by the New Hampshire Republican Committee:

“New Hampshire is poised to deliver the Republican nominee for president," New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball said Wednesday in a statement. "This is why it is so imperative to bring together those with strong ideologies who have a vision to create solutions to defeat the radical Obama agenda."

-- Newt will speak at the convention of the 9th District Georgia Republicans.

N.H. Paper: "an enticing idea to have the former Speaker of the U.S. House going toe to toe with President Obama in a presidential debate."

Newt appeared in front Foster's Daily Democrat last week, which I covered here, and the paper had this to say today:

Newt Gingrich is (or will be as of about May 1) a fascinating candidate for president. He is a cup runneth over with ideas.

While far from making an endorsement at this point, Foster's Daily Democrat sees it as an enticing idea to have the former Speaker of the U.S. House going toe to toe with President Obama in a presidential debate.

...

Take for example, unemployment. Gingrich opines that those receiving some 99 weeks of benefits should spend that time training for new jobs. The result might very well be less than 99 weeks on public assistance.

Then there is public housing. Those who run public complexes complain that tenant abuse requires rebuilding structures every eight years or so. The solution? Allow tenants to invest in their housing -- painting, maintenance and even ownership.

On education, Gingrich talks about the School of the Ozarks, one of five working schools in the nation. Students graduate with little or no debt because they work their way through college by working at the school. Construction at the school is even done by students under the guidance of professional engineers and the like.

One aspect of Gingrich that makes him a wellspring of ideas is his impressive knowledge of history and how it relates to the success or failure of governments. He is extensively read and a student -- as well as a professor -- of history. He never seems to stumble when pulling passages from Jefferson and Lincoln. An author himself (Rediscovering God in America, among others writings) he cites the work of others, such as Arthur Brooks' The Battle, to bolster his position on the issues.

...

Win or lose Foster's looks forward to following that effort and engaging in that discussion [of Gingrich and voters].

Romney up in New Hampshire but could drop as more people find out about RomneyCare

Due to being a former Governor of a nearby state and a 2008 Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney has a commanding lead in New Hampshire, says a round of Public Policy Polling (PPP) surveys.

But PPP finds that 61% of New Hampshire GOP Primary voters would not support a candidate "who supported a health insurance mandate at the state level" -- which is exactly what Romney did. Over the next few months, as more and more become aware of that fact, Romney figures to drop in the polls.

And even if holds onto the lead, it may not be enough. Romney, as I noted a few days ago, is banking on just staying relevant in Iowa and South Carolina, not actually winning. That strategy could only work if Romney scores a big victory in the Granite State, not by just a few points.

Newt the leader in Florida if Huckabee and Palin stay out

Public Policy Polling has a series of Florida GOP Primary polls out today. They conducted a poll that had both Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee in the field, one with just Palin, one with just Huckabee, one with neither, and one with both out.

Palin and Huckabee included:

Gingrich: 18%
Huckabee: 18%
Mitt Romney: 18%
Palin: 15%
Michelle Bachmann: 7%
Tim Pawlenty: 6%
Ron Paul: 6%

Palin but no Huckabee:

Gingrich: 24%
Romney: 23%
Palin: 14$
Paul: 9%

Huckabee but no Palin:

Huckabee: 24%
Gingrich: 22%
Romney: 22%
Bachmann: 9%

Neither Huckabee nor Palin:

Gingrich: 30%
Romney: 28%
Bachmann: 11%
Pawlenty: 10%
Paul: 9%

The results mirror other PPP polls insofar as Newt is the beneficiary if Huckabee and/or Palin do not run.

A New Page: Dates of GOP Straw Polls

I have added a new page that will contain dates of Straw Polls and other important dates. (It can be accessed by clicking here or above.)

Currently, it has dates for the Ames Straw Poll; Greenville County, S.C.; Charleston County, S.C.; Lexington County, S.C.; and the Florida Straw Poll. And the results from Saturday's York County Straw Poll.