Newt staffer: "There has been a little bit of an uptick lately" in fundraising

While admitting that Newt's second quarter fundraising numbers won't be as impressive as Mitt Romney -- who has spent more time in England raising money this year than in Iowa -- Michael Krull, the political director of Newt 2012, said that has been "an uptick lately" in money coming in.

What better way to show the media how wrong they are than to continue that and send in a contribution?

Here are a couple of pictures from the Tea Party Bus Tour event today:

Link.

Link.

Video of Newt's interview on Squawk Box

Link.

Video of Newt's interview on The O'Reilly Factor

Link.

Newt on an American Energy plan

Link.


Newt will be on the Tea Party Bus Tour tomorrow morning in Iowa.

Quotes from Newt's speech to Maryland GOP

In a speech at the Maryland Republican Party fundraiser Thursday, Newt assailed President Obama's foreign policy. From Kendra Marr:

He told the audience that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, and challenged the notion that the Libyan rebels have America’s best interests at heart. He said political correctness is inhibiting the fight against Islamist terrorists. Gingrich also charged that Obama has been “strangely quiet” about Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and that the president no longer cares about Israel’s safety.

“I’m not very comfortable that Egypt is going to work out well,” he said. “I’m not very comfortable that Tunisia is going to work out well. I’m not very comfortable that Libya is going to work out well.”

Gingrich ended his speech with a few solutions. He proposed that Congress force the president to make foreign policy decisions at home, not through foreign organizations like the United Nations, and revamp the Intelligence Act so that American can have “real effective spies.” He also called for the firing of Attorney General Eric Holder, who Gingrich charged with undermining American security.

From ABC's Arlette Saenz:

"Is the tide of war receding or is there a potential tsunami of violence building offshore?" Gingrich repeatedly asked the crowd.

"I want to challenge the president to withdraw the phrase because it totally misleads the American people and it represents a delusion of the real world."

Also from Saenz:

Prior to his speech, Gingrich held a roundtable fundraiser for his campaign. Earlier this week, two top fundraisers for the campaign quit.

The Gingrich campaign is planning fundraisers as they head into the final week of the fundraising quarter.

"I ask everyone I can for money. I’d love to have your support," Gingrich told reporters.

Audio of Newt on Laura Ingraham's radio show and WMAL morning show

Link to Ingraham interview.


Link to WMAL interview.

Interesting quote from Matt Towery

Towery, whose history with Newt dates back a long time (though they have not worked together for several years), wrote this in his most recent column:

I never underestimate Gingrich when he is determined, and I saw that look in his eyes at the recent press conference.

I can't speak to that, but while all the headlines the last two days have been about, to me, pretty meaningless things, two pieces of news that have been under the radar have made me very optimistic about the future of the campaign:

1) As I wrote Tuesday, it was said of Newt that he "spends the majority of his awake time on the phone with potential donors." The importance of that cannot be understated. And while it may not be reflected in the upcoming campaign finance reports, it should show up in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

2) Twelve days in Iowa during July. The state is very much up for grabs, and Newt looks to be making a big play for it.

Text of Newt's address on Dodd-Frank and the Federal Reserve

Here is the full address. (Consider signing the petition Newt is starting to audit the Fed as well.)

I will post video and/or audio as it becomes available.

Newt to visit Iowa 12 days in July; Reagan lost 13 staff in 1980

(Update: the July 4th parade starts at 10 A.M. Monday. "Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, who has served as state chairwoman of Gingrich’s presidential campaign, said Gingrich will be in the parade and then spend the rest of the day enjoying the sights in Clear Lake," writes Peggy Senzarino.)

-- Lost behind all the media reports the last day is a story that will actually be important to the nomination process: Newt will be in Iowa twelve days in July. That is in addition to the Tea Party Bus Tour event he will be taking part of this weekend.

Politico with a few details of the July swing: "a July 4 parade in Clear Lake (schedule of July 4 events) and a visit to Luther College in Decorah at the end of July. That's the alma mater of Callista Gingrich and she'll play in an alumni band there."

-- Another bit of information no one in the media wants to bring up: Ronald Reagan's staff in his 1980 campaign was in a constant state of flux. (Just read Craig Shirley's Rendezvous with Destiny.)

Reuters writes of Newt's trip to Atlanta today:

Gingrich, a former history professor in Georgia, said 13 of Ronald Reagan's aides quit during his 1980 presidential primary campaign. Reagan went on to win the nomination and the U.S. presidency.

"If I had to choose Reaganomics or 13 staffers quitting, I think for the average working American, Reaganomics was a much better deal," Gingrich said, referring to Reagan's policy of cutting taxes and reducing government regulations.

Not many are paying close attention to the race right now; hardly anyone is paying attention to staff news.

The voters who will decide who wins the GOP nomination are concerned about what a candidate will do to reduce the tax burden, to get the federal budget balanced, to get job creation, to make energy more affordable. Not the inside baseball coverage the D.C. media loves to drone on and on about.

-- Speaking of D.C. media: Am I supposed to take the Washington Post serious on other stories about Newt when they can't even get Newt's birthday right? Note to WaPo: it was June 17. Which you could have found out by searching for "Newt Gingrich birthday."

Sign Newt's petition to audit the Fed

Here is the petition.

From Newt.org:

We insist that the body become more honest and transparent with the American public that it serves.

The Fed must no longer be allowed to stonewall and mislead American taxpayers who have the right to know, "Who Got the Money?"

One of the keys of getting a strong dollar back -- not one that loses nearly a quarter of value in a decade -- is stopping the Fed from its inflationary practices.

A sneak peek at Newt's speech on the Federal Reserve

From The Wall Street Journal:

In the latest salvo, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is expected to call Wednesday in Atlanta for a "dramatically limited Federal Reserve." In the text of his comments released in advance, he criticizes the U.S. central bank for not staying focused on the strength of the dollar and for lending money to subsidiaries of foreign banks during the financial crisis.

...

In the text of his comments, Mr. Gingrich accuses the Fed of supporting Libya during the financial crisis. A New York subsidiary of Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp. was among many foreign banks the Fed lent to during the crisis to prevent a global financial meltdown. The Libyan government has a large stake in the bank, though Fed officials have said most of the stake was purchased by Tripoli after the bank's loans from the Fed were repaid. A Fed spokeswoman declined to comment.

(Update: Newt has already posted a short video that mainly deals with the Fed):

R.C. Hammond: Newt "getting tremendous response wherever he goes."

Hammond is quoted in the Des Moines-Register as saying:

"There’s a big difference between what goes on in Washington, D.C., and what goes on in the campaign trail. He’s getting tremendous response wherever he goes. People are very excited about having an option of voting for a candidate who is actually putting forward bold solutions."

I think that that is right: most people are not paying attention to the race this early, especially to staff issues.

Newt will be on Iowa Tea Party Bus Tour Saturday

From Jennifer Jacobs:

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will appear at the Iowa tea party bus tour event in Indianola on Saturday.

The event begins at 10 a.m. at the Pizza Ranch at 1709 North Jefferson Way in Indianola, said Ryan Rhodes, chairman of the Iowa Tea Party.

The tea party bus will be in Indianola in the morning and Lamoni at 5 p.m.

Here is the link to the Bus Tour's webpage for Saturday.

Newt still has "a half dozen people on the staff" raising money

From Kendra Marr of Politico:

Gingrich spokesman RC Hammond confirmed that fundraising director Jody Thomas and consultant Mary Heitman had left the team this morning. But he stressed, “There are still a half dozen people on the staff who are dedicated to helping us raise money on different platforms.”

“They’re professionals and we wish them the very best,” Hammond told POLITICO.

Today Gingrich is attending a fundraising luncheon in Savannah with prospective donors. And Hammond said Gingrich’s “number one tactic” is aggressively working the phones.

“Newt spends the majority of his awake time on the phone with potential donors,” he said.

The initial news of two staff departures threw me back on my heels a bit, but after reading reports of Newt hosting another fundraiser and "dialing for dollars" -- which some of the staffers who quit two weeks ago said he did not do -- it makes me more optimistic after the future finances of the campaign.

A "longtime Gingrich loyalist" will be new finance director

With the news that two of Newt's finance team quit today, his spokesman told Chris Cillizza:

“The campaign will continue to reorganize,” said ]R.C.] Hammond. “We are as committed as we ever were to running our solutions oriented, substance first campaign.”

Hammond added that the campaign still has “over a dozen staffers” and that the finance director job would be filled internally by a longtime Gingrich loyalist.

(Update: It is now being reported that Christine Hall, who worked at American Solutions for Newt, is the replacement.)

The resignations probably have to do with the upcoming fundraising numbers, which the media has been saying will not be great. If it had to do with strategy, it seems they would have quit two weeks ago.

Hammond also told Jim Galloway that "aides and volunteers continue to raise money, despite the absences of Thomas and Heitman [the two who quit Tuesday]."

"What American Decline?"

Newt has a short, two-minute video on bigthink.com about why an American decline is not inevitable:

Newt on a talk radio barrage; will call for the repeal of Dodd-Frank

Yesterday, I linked to Newt's radio interview with Dana Loesch from last week.

He was also on Bill Cunningham's show last week.

This morning, it was the Jack B. Show (audio here) and William Bennett's Morning in America. Tonight he was on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. Tomorrow morning, Laura Ingraham and Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson.

Newt is out, aggressively selling his plan to the American people.

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Newt will be at the Atlanta Press Club on Wednesday, talking of the need to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill from last year that will be a hamper on the economy, adding red tape and decreasing investment in the economy.

Newt: "I commit myself to actively advancing pro-life policies"

Newt was one of five GOP Presidential candidates who last week signed the Susan B. Anthony's pro-life pledge. (Mitt Romney and Herman Cain were the two who did not.)

In their morning e-mail, the "Morning Score," Politico writes:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the latest 2012 candidate to tout his support for the Susan B. Anthony List’s anti-abortion pledge, sending a message to his supporters in Iowa and South Carolina this morning that emphasizes his "deep belief in the sanctity of every human life." GINGRICH: "By signing this important pledge, I commit myself to actively advancing pro-life policies and legislation if I have the opportunity to serve as your next President...On the first day of my administration, I would immediately reinstate President Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City Policy, so that no U.S. taxpayer money is used to pay for abortions overseas. I would also reinstate President George W. Bush’s Conscience Clause, so that no medical professional is forced to perform any procedures that violate their religious beliefs."

Those two executive orders he mentions have long been among the four examples (with 150 or 200 total) of the orders he would sign on his first day. The other two being the elimination of all White House czars and allowing Israel -- as we do every other country -- the choice of where we place our embassy.

During the debate last Monday, Newt's campaign sent out a tweet touting his pro-life record, writing "Newt has a 98.6% lifetime voting record from National Right To Life."

Politico also mentioned that already Mitt Romney has got heat for his refusal to sign the pledge as it adds to the concern that his pro-life conversion may not have been completely sincere.

Newt's radio interview with Dana Loesch

Link.



Loesch, a St. Louis radio host and tea party activist, also wrote a column defending Callista Gingrich against ugly media attacks.