Politico seems to be hunting for Soros cash. Or they're just awful journalists.

Jonathan Martin of Politico has a new column out in which he takes a nasty, unprofessional tone throughout. (Remember, Politico poses as a fair journalistic outlet, not one that is composed of partisan, left-wing hacks. Maybe they are not doing well and need some of that money George Soros has been tossing around to different media outlets.)

Worse than his unprofessional tone is when he claims Newt is "nearly devoid of paid staff." Had he read this piece in National Review, he would have seen numerous staffers mentioned, and the article did not even mention all of Newt's.

As I have shown, Politico is not real great at doing actual research, though.

50 States Project is up and running

(Update2: I now have a site dedicated just to this project: Newt50States.com.)

(Unless you are in Wyoming. I apparently ran into the limit that Google sets for setting up Groups. I hope to have Wyoming's up soon.) (Update: Wyoming is now listed.)

But for every other state, you can click here and find your state. Once you do and click on the name, hit "Apply for Membership."

If you know anyone who supports Newt, please have them sign up as well.

Thank you to everyone for reading and supporting Newt. This project can be a huge help to Newt and his campaign.

Newt answers questions submitted on Newt.org

Link.

Supreme Court.



White House Czars.



Private sector growth.



Jobs and reform.



Keeping America safe.

Newt responds to a question submitted on his website

Link.

Great article on Newt's campaign by National Review

Robert Costa of National Review interviewed Newt's communications director, Joe DeSantis, about all the recent events. The entire thing is worth reading, and I recommend you do, but I will pick some of the best parts:

On Thursday morning, June 9, former House speaker Newt Gingrich was informed that more than a dozen of his senior political advisers had resigned. All of them, except for longtime spokesman Rick Tyler, were recent additions to his team, hired guns for his nascent presidential campaign.

Knowing that things could quickly spiral out of control, Gingrich called an emergency meeting at his personal office, a few floors above K Street in downtown Washington. Along with his wife, Callista, Gingrich assembled his remaining loyalists for an important, closed-door discussion about how he would handle the news, and whether he would stay in the race.

“They were calm,” recalls Joe DeSantis, a longtime Gingrich adviser, in an interview with National Review Online. “Newt said that he was not going to get pushed out of this race. He and Callista both said that they felt compelled as citizens to keep fighting, to keep running for president, regardless of the news.

“Immediately, we all felt boosted, we got a wave of energy,” DeSantis says. “For weeks, with the old staff, we all wondered why we weren’t busy, why things were moving so slow. Once we saw that Gingrich was reinvigorated, we felt the same way. Newt World felt like it was kicking back into gear, back into the way it has operated for years. We worked till 9 p.m. that evening, looking at how to reframe the campaign in the days ahead.”

But things turned sour within hours. The advisers not only quit, they criticized Gingrich in numerous stories about the exodus, and some blamed their departure on Callista. This sent Team Gingrich into a fury, and remains an open wound within the inner circle.

...

“Those who left were more mechanical; they did not fit with the constant brainstorming culture within Gingrich’s inner circle,” explains DeSantis, who now serves as communications director for the presidential campaign. “It was more of an operational clash. There is an old saying in Newt World: Either you stay for two months, or you fit in and stay for five years or more. It is a different kind of pace here: Newt works 80 to 90 hours per week. You have to roll with it.”

Others have left Newt Gingrich’s camp before, DeSantis observes. It is not always an easy place to work, since the boss is an unconventional political figure, who operates more as a magnet for ideas than as the chief executive of a political machine.

...

[DeSantis]: "We had press events scheduled at the office, but our former point man there (Scott Rials) nixed them. When we went down to the office this past week, we heard about how badly things were being run. Volunteers were not getting calls back, endorsements were not being lined up the way they could have. Totally inexcusable and unprofessional."

...

DeSantis is less critical when it comes to his former colleague Rick Tyler, who was part of Gingrich’s top team for many years. “I think it was more of a burnout thing with Rick,” he surmises. “We all still respect and like Rick. We have been in contact with him since. He was part of Newt World, whereas the others were outsider advisers who were only here for a bit. It’s a bit different with him.”

Looking ahead, DeSantis emphasizes that Gingrich is in the race to win it, that he never considered dropping out. “Newt is reasonable about things going forward,” he says. “He sees a path to the nomination, but he knows that it will not be easy. He will fight for it. But he is not a masochist. He will not stay in if he sees that there is no way for him to win.”

To help out Gingrich, DeSantis says that the entire campaign team has been reshuffled, with longtime aides playing new roles: Kathy Lubbers, Gingrich’s daughter, is a senior adviser; Michael Krull is the campaign’s political director; R. C. Hammond is the press secretary; Jody Thomas runs fundraising; Karen Olson advises Callista; Brady Cassis is the lead researcher; Bess Kelly is the scheduler.

Perhaps the most important shift, DeSantis says, is Gingrich’s decision to make Vince Haley, his coauthor on books and policy proposals, the campaign’s policy director.

“Making Vince Haley the policy director is important,” he says. “The previous advisers did not organize the team with a policy director, so we had all of these communications and ideas floating out there without organization. Now we are going to keep the campaign ideas- and solutions-oriented, with policy organization and presentation our number-one goal.”

DeSantis:

"Iowa is where we are focused," he says. "Other early states are important, but this is where we need to build a powerful movement. We think we can still be competitive there. It is where face-to-face communication can really help you win. Newt has drawn huge crowds there already. He’ll be back in July, if not sooner, building on that early buzz....this will be a different kind of campaign moving forward, the kind of campaign that Gingrich envisioned from the beginning.

...

It will be based around ideas and solutions, individual outreach, and built around Newt’s strengths, from policy speeches to engagement with voters. It will delve into policy areas that other campaigns won’t touch. It will be an open, grassroots-fueled effort — lots of media, trips to early states, speeches, and talk with supporters on Facebook and Twitter."

More DeSantis:

"Newt is also going to look for more long-form venues, whether it is on television with a reporter or during a policy speech at a college or GOP club, to make his ideas known. Later this month (at the Atlanta Press Club on June 22) he will speak on housing in Georgia, for example, to talk about repealing Dodd-Frank and about his ideas on the Federal Reserve....He will directly talk with thousands of primary voters, not interact with them via press releases and stiff appearances."

50 States

I have decided to finally start a project I have been thinking of undergoing for some time. I want to start organizing supporters of Newt 2012. While we will start small and just have a few states, my hope is to eventually have state captains in every state. (Someone from every state has signed up on Newt.org.)

I am not part of the official campaign. Neither is this blog or this project.

Here is the post I wrote that explains why this is so important.

While there will be some trial and error, the general outline of this project will be:

One person in charge of each state.

Each state will have a dedicated Google Group. (E.g., Newt 2012 -- Texas.) I think it would also be best to have a national list.

The ultimate goal is to be better prepared than the other campaigns in all the states -- not just Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, and Florida. Every campaign is going to be devoting nearly all their resources to those five states for the next seven months. It is not a slight on the states that follow those; it is simply political reality.

The GOP Primary figures to last long past those five states, however, and that is where we come in. If we can build a solid infrastructure in those five states as well as the later ones, that will give Newt and his campaign a huge leg up. They won't have to start from scratch when the campaign gets to that point; they will be able to expand on our efforts.

As the post I linked to earlier goes into more detail on, this is the way Obama beat Hillary. They were tied after the big states, but since his supporters were the only ones to seriously organize the later states, he won overwhelmingly.

We can do the same for Newt.

For anyone interested in helping with this project, here are the two best ways to contact me: you can e-mail me at joshgosser1776@gmail.com or contact me on Twitter @joshgosser1776. If you are on Facebook, join the Newt for President page I help run.

Obviously, if you have friends or family who support Newt, ask them to join our effort.

For those who use FreedomWorks' FreedomConnector -- which is great -- you might be able to find Newt supporters on there. I would not recommend spamming people about Newt, but if you have some people who you regularly communicate with, see if they have a candidate they prefer. If they do not -- or they are not solidly behind the one they are currently supporting -- see what their vote-moving issue is and show them videos of Newt on the topic. (For example, if you come across someone who votes almost entirely based on the 2nd amendment, this video would be a good one.) There are a good number of videos on this blog that could come in handy. Newt's solutions are also something good to circulate.

Again, if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me.

This can be a huge key to getting Gingrich the nomination and, ultimately, the Presidency, and I hope you will help out in it.

Highlights of Newt's debate performance

A video the campaign put together:

Link.

Newt screening documentary with Savannah Tea Party

I have added a screening of A City Upon a Hill to the calendar page of this site.

It will be in Savannah, Georgia, next Tuesday, June 21st.

Newt's 50 state strategy

(Update: I have a website now dedicated to this: Newt50States.com.)

After Super Tuesday in 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were neck-and-neck in the delegate count. Soon, however, Obama had a commanding lead -- even when no big states were up for grabs. Obama was able to do this because his supporters had -- on their own -- been organizing for months.

And in small states, especially those that were holding caucuses instead of primaries, the organization is what made all the difference.

Though a much smaller amount of delegates were available from, say, Montana than California, Obama won by such a commanding total that he racked up delegate after delegate.

Clinton's camp made the fatal mistake of thinking the game would be over after Super Tuesday, not paying any attention to the legion of states that would hold contests after February 5. And thanks to Obama's supporters, his campaign did not have to divert funds away from the Super Tuesday effort. They relied on the supporters to have an infrastructure in place.

Once Super Tuesday was over, Obama's campaign came in and added onto the efforts of their volunteers. But without the legwork done months and months in advance, they would not been nearly as organized as they were.

That brings me to Newt's campaign.

As it should be, the vast bulk of the attention so far has been on Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina. Some coverage has been done of Florida and Nevada. But other than that, not any state has been brought up in the campaign coverage.

Which in past Republican primaries would make sense. After all, in past years, many states were "winner-take-all." Democrat primaries, on the other hand, handed out delegates on a proportional basis. That is why the Republican primary in 2008 ended so soon while the Democrat one dragged on for months and months.<br/>
This time is different. Thanks to rule changes, those states wishing to have primaries March and before have to award delegates on a proportional basis.

So while the big three -- Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina -- will still have a huge impact on momentum and fundraising, the race will almost certainty not be decided for a while.

Which means that the path to the nomination may well lie in small states way down the calendar. Those states in which just a little bit of an organization can make a huge impact.

By pushing a 50 state strategy -- while still focusing on the early states -- I believe Newt sees that.

Video of Newt at Small Business Forum in New Hampshire

Part 1 is Newt's opening remarks.



Part 2 is on the FDA.



Part 3 is on Medical R&D.



Part 4 is on community banks.

Quote from David Plouffe

All the talk of Newt having a different way of winning elections than many consultants think is the only way reminded me of this quote:

Just about every day we heard criticism about our organization-building in South Carolina.

...

We ran a ground campaign in South Carolina the likes of which had never before been seen. And it was widely believed by many old hands to be a colossal mistake....every time [Obama] was down there, someone pulled him aside to tell him we didn't know what the hell we were doing.

That quote is from Obama 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe on page 161 of the paperback edition of his book The Audacity to Win.

Newt is going against the grain as the Obama camp did four years ago -- though in a different way -- and obviously it worked well for Obama. What makes this even more interesting is that Newt has read Plouffe's book.

I will have another post up soon about how Newt is also looking to create a similar grassroots organization to the one Obama had in the post-Super Tuesday contests in 2008.

Newt staffer: "Look for Newt to talk more about housing on the stump."

R.C. Hammond just tweeted to "Look for Newt to talk more about housing on the stump."

Add that to Newt's other focus points on the economy: major tax reform, an American energy plan, eliminating job-killing regulations, and a pro-dollar monetary policy.

Newt's interview tonight with Sean Hannity (video)

Part 1.



Part 2.

Apologies again for not including links for subscribers

I forgot last night to include links for two videos I included in my post about the debate.

One is a regular YouTube video, but the other is one I "splicd" to include just the relevant portion. There is no way to have the actual link to the latter, so I will simply post the link to the entire post:

Review of the debate.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

E-mail from Newt supporter

Just received this in my inbox. Thought it was very cool.

As a tea party leader in South Carolina, I know what it’s like to keep your chin up, and to keep fighting for what you believe in.

After watching tonight’s New Hampshire debate, I couldn’t help but think:

Newt is the candidate we need fighting for us.

I don't care what the media or the political class says. They have their own idea of who our candidate should be.

Newt is the only candidate offering solutions as big as our challenges. And just as important, he has a long record of making them a reality.

When we put a candidate on the stage to debate President Obama next year and make the case for conservatism and American Exceptionalism, I want it to be Newt.

So tonight, I donated $25 to help make sure we can get him there.

At this time in history, it’s the least I can do to help fuel the re-launched campaign of the candidate I believe we need.

I ask you to join me in making a donation, whether it’s $10, $25, or even $100.

Of course, as a supporter, I was concerned recently regarding Newt’s remarks about the House Republicans' proposed Medicare changes and the shakeup of campaign staff.

But as I listened to him explain his remarks on both talk radio and tea party conference calls, and I watched him at tonight’s debate, I realized that Newt just isn’t going to be a conventional candidate. And maybe that’s what we need right now, because these are not ordinary times. I don’t want talking points – I want substance, even if it gets candidates into trouble sometimes.

So I hope you’ll consider making a donation. Every dollar now, and every new donor, will send a message that this campaign is alive and well.

Thank you for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,

Elisabet Wilson
Newt 2012 Supporter
Simpsonville, SC

Here is the story of how Wilson joined Newt's team.

Review of tonight's debate

As I said on Facebook after the debate: Game on.

Newt really was impressive on a number of questions:

When asked about right-to-work states, Newt both brought up the fact that states that do no have forced unionism have lower unemployment and better economies, as well as the abuse by the National Labor Relations board in South Carolina.



When NASA was brought up, Newt called for a decentralized effort to explore space to reduce the bureaucratic stagnation the agency has become known for.


(Thank you to splicd.com)

On national security, Newt castigated our intelligence efforts for not knowing nearly enough about, among other things, the Libyan rebels. He brought up the Times Square Bomber -- who had pledged allegiance to the United States -- who told the judge in his case that he lied because the U.S. was his enemy.

On immigration, he called for everyone to reject the simplistic argument of complete open borders and amnesty on the one hand or kick out each and every illegal immigrant on the other.

One concern of mine was that Newt might not have the ability to answer in 30 seconds -- but those concerns seemed to go out the window tonight. He was sharp, and even some of his recent critics on the right were very impressed.

Game on.

Review of Newt's speech Sunday night at Republican Jewish Coalition

I will post the video as soon as it becomes available, but for now, here is a recap:

Newt once again reaffirmed his commitment to allow Israel -- as the United States does with every other country in the world -- to pick the site of where our embassy goes. We do not place our embassy in Jerusalem, which is what the Israelis want. The crowd gave Newt "sustained" applause for that.

Newt also received a long standing ovation for his call to eliminate funding for the United Nations should the General Assembly move to recognize a Palestinian State under Hamas.

Barbara Efraim, who did a great job live-tweeting the speech, quotes Gingrich: "If Israel disarmed today, there would be no Israel tomorrow. But if Hamas, Iran and Hizbollah disarmed today, there'd be peace in the ME."

Another money quote: "both Israel and America are at a dangerous crossroads at which the survival of Israel and the safety of the United States both hang in the balance."

Before the speech, Newt reportedly hosted a private fundraiser.