Newt to be in Pella, Iowa, November 1

Jennifer Jacobs:

Five Republican presidential candidates have confirmed they will attend the National Association of Manufacturers forum in Iowa on Nov. 1, which will center on issues important to manufacturers and their employees.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum have confirmed, organizers said this afternoon.

The forum is from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 1 at Vermeer Corporation headquarters in Pella.

Videos, pictures, and tweets from Newt's Dallas Tea Party Town Hall

Two videos from @blogbat:

Link.



Link.



The Chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party tweeted: "Place is packed to hear @newtgingrich and people are still filing in."

A picture from @cdarren:

From Michelle Selesky of Newt's campaign:

Omar Villafranca, a NBC reporter in the Dallas area, tweeted this picture:

Here is a short portion of Newt's speech:

Gingrich summarized the focus of his campaign by saying, “The hallmark of this campaign is going to be to go into every neighborhood…look people in the eye and say ‘would you rather that your children had a paycheck or a food stamp?’… I think you are going to find that people of every ethnic background in this country” will want their children to be “independent, self-reliant” and able to pursue the American dream.

He also repeated something he has said multiple times on the campaign trail that he would aggressively challenge Obama to several Lincoln-Douglass-style debates with a timekeeper but no moderator. If Obama declined, Gingrich promised to follow Obama around the country, city-by-city, and respond to every comment that Obama makes. “Everywhere the President goes, I will appear. I will methodically take apart every Obama speech until he agrees to debate me…I don’t believe he can defend either his performance or his principles or his policies.”

After that last picutre, Ben Smith of Politico tweeted: "We're headed inevitably into a Newt cycle, right?"

Byron York of the Washington Examiner replied: "Feels that way."

@HowSaraRolls sent out this message:

@newtgingrich Thank you SO much for coming to Dallas! You are so brilliant & did a great job! I was lucky enough to be in the front row!

And @AngieLeeG:

Just saw @newtgingrich in DFW airport. Seems like a real person. Bonus point for @newtgingrich on my voting barometer! #GOP @Sean_Donovan

Newt 2012 has raised over $175,000 since Tuesday's debate (and more great news)

From a fantastic piece on HumanEvents.com:

“Over $175,000 since Tuesday, average contribution of $84, with three out of four donations from new donors. The campaign is currently on pace to raise more in October than it did over the entire FEC [Federal Election Commission] third quarter,” Hammond said. “The average contribution during the FEC third quarter was $76—and 50% of contributions in the third quarter came from new donors,” he said. The increased cash flow to the campaign is making it possible for Gingrich to expand the states in play, and hire new key staff, Hammond said.

The strategy is to concentrate on the first three states, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa, and then have people and structure in place to leverage success into more success, he said. “In New Hampshire, the campaign has hired Andrew Hemingway as its first paid staffer, to work with volunteer Team 10 Leader Michelle McManus, a 912 project organizer from Bow, N.H.,” he said.

“Hemingway was the most immediate chairman of the NH Liberty Caucus, which helped elect 100 new conservative legislators to the New Hampshire State House,” Hammond said. “In South Carolina, the campaign has deployed its National Coalitions Director Adam Waldeck to organize the state,” he said. “Adam is working with volunteer Allen Olson,” he said, “who was the founder and most recent chairman of the Columbia Tea Party.” “The campaign will soon announce its Iowa team and open a Des Moines office,” he said.

Hammond said he is seeing the resurgence in the size and enthusiasm of the crowds. “Newt has spoken to overflow crowds at town halls in Phoenix on Wednesday and in Dallas today. He will campaign in Iowa over the weekend and on Monday, and New Hampshire the middle of next week, then to South Carolina on the 28th,” he said. Hammond said people outside the campaign did not understand what happened inside the campaign during its rocky first six weeks. “When the staffers quit there was a panic for maybe 10 minutes,” he said. “Then, Newt talked to us and we were fine.” The former speaker told the remaining staff that it would take the whole summer to work through the tough launch, but if they stuck to his plan they would be ready in the fall to challenge the front-runners.

The press secretary, who has been with the campaign from the start, said Gingrich was liberated after the staffers quit. “It was like he no longer had to argue with his own staff about what he wanted to do with his campaign.”

Read what someone who attended Newt's Phoenix town hall thought of it

Tressie found this:

I was getting back to everyone on here about the Townhall meeting last night in Phoenix with Newt. I made it there on time with my sister, despite my car breaking down) to get a seat in a packed out room (500+) of mostly conservatives and Tea Party members. Our chairman of the AZ Republican party was also there. Jan Brewer and the VIPs met with him earlier

I just want to say that all doubts or reservations I had about Newt from the past were completely erased after spending two hours of talk and interaction at this TownHall meeting. The conservatives here in Arizona do embrace Newt with great support.

He is brilliant in both conservative wisdom and maturity, made his mistakes and learned from them, knows our country's history, understands the international and national problems we face, and believes we are at a critical crossroads for America. We are down to a life or death situation for our country in 2012, need to be on high alert, and ban together as grassroots American patriots like we've never done before.

Multiple hires coming in Iowa. C-SPAN to televise Saturday's Faith and Freedom Event

Newt 2012 will be announcing "multiple hires in Iowa," reports The Atlantic.

In other news:

Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines-Register on an event Saturday:

"C-SPAN will broadcast live the entire Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fall banquet, featuring six GOP presidential candidates, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday in Des Moines.

And the network will trail candidates in Iowa Thursday through Monday (seven have booked campaign stops)."

What did Frank Luntz' focus group think of Newt?

Some excerpts from a piece from Newsmax:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “positive attitude” made him the clear winner in Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate, according to participants in a focus group conducted after the often contentious forum by pollster Frank Luntz. Only three people supported Gingrich when the debate began, but a large number in the crowd raised their hands when Luntz asked who supported him after it ended.

“He spoke to me and told me that we welcome everybody — everyone has an equal chance in this country,” a Vietnamese immigrant in the Las Vegas crowd said. “You know, my family — we came here from Vietnam as boat people — we came here to America, poor. My dad — he spoke to me and told me that: yes, you can work hard, get an education and be successful. And it's OK — And I support that.”

“He’s the only person in there I think that can run this country and make America again like the Reagan years — and he is so positive,” one participant said. “He’s the smartest man on there — and I say to all the Republicans: Give Newt a chance.”

Another:

“He’s so natural with what he says — he’s not polished, it is not something he has rehearsed in his mind a hundred times,” she said. “It’s what he believes and it comes out so clearly and honestly and witty that you believe what he says.”

The participants thought the squabbling between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry was terrible, and most were especially tough on Perry for it.

Coloradans4Palin Blog: "Newt Gingrich really is the only option."

Yesterday, the blog for the grassroots Coloradans4Palin group posted an endorsement of Newt.

An excerpt:

Newt Gingrich may be the closest thing we now have to Reagan. Someone with an optimistic spirit to lift the country out of its misery. Someone who knows how to practically renew and restore America. Someone who can rise above petty bickering and just plain fix things. And as a professor with carefully reasoned ideas, he may be the only person who will be able to lecture Obama instead of the other way around.

...

Gingrich is electable, conservative, and has a good track record to boot. Go Newt!

Here's the link to the full post again.

Newt will be in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday

The Quad City Times reports:

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich will campaign in the Quad-Cities on Monday, according to the Scott County Republican Party.

Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House, is scheduled to make an appearance at 1:30 p.m. at the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. The doors to the event open at 12:45 p.m.

"Newt Gingrich emerged from Tuesday's fiery Republican debates as the voice of reason"

A piece on TheStreet.com opens:

Newt Gingrich emerged from Tuesday's fiery Republican debates as the voice of reason among a group of frantic GOPers.

Joe Deaux continued:

Gingrich proved again that he understands the legislative process more fully than any of the other candidates, and he used his weighty House experience to rise above petty eruptions that characterized the event.

And later in the article:

"I thought Newt Gingrich [won] because he was kind of above it all -- all the bickering and attacking and the infighting," Tim Callanan, Berkeley County, S.C., Republican Party chairman, told TheStreet. "Regardless of that, he was extremely effective in what he said."

Newt's town hall in Phoenix Wednesday

Newt held a town hall in Phoenix Wednesday night. There were at least 350 people in attendance, with an overflow outside. "Fun stuff," Newt's Deputy Press Secretary, Michelle Selesky, tweeted.

She sent out this picture:

Another Newt 2012 staffer, Andrew Bell, tweeted this picture:

Newt's radio interview with Sean Hannity from Wednesday

Link.

Another addition to the Newt 2012 team

From the Union Leader:

Rising star conservative and Tea Party activist Andrew Hemingway has been hired by Newt Gingrich’s campaign to direct his ground game in New Hampshire.

Hemingway, who chairs the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, is the first paid Gingrich staffer on the ground in the state. Others are expected to follow.

Under Hemingway’s direction, the liberty caucus helped elect more than 100 new House members last year.

He is also the founder and CEO of Digital Acumen, a digital consulting firm, which had a leading role in the first-ever Twitter presidential debate earlier this year.

Hemingway and Gingrich met last spring when Gingrich hosted Tea Party activists in Dover.

He’ll work with Michelle McManus of Bow, a volunteer grass-roots leader heading Gingrich’s “Team 10” project.

We’ve also learned Gingrich will return to the state Oct. 25 and 26. One of his stops will be to file his candidacy in the New Hampshire Primary at the secretary of state’s office.

The Gingrich camp says the Hemingway hiring comes as Gingrich gains momentum.

“We have raised more money in the past four days than we did in all of July,” said spokesman R.C. Hammond.

Newt's answers from the CNN Debate Tuesday

Link.

From Newt.org: Reaction to Newt's debate performance

I'll quote a few here, but for the full list, here's the link to Newt.org.

Newt Gingrich, hands down, won the debate.
-- Erick Erickson, RedState.

The former House speaker excelled once again. He was authoritative from beginning to end.
-- Kevin Hall, The Iowa Republican

But the rising star again seems to be Newt.
-- Professor William Jacobson, Legal Insurrection

[Gingrich] has been consistently clever and surprisingly non-negative in these debates. And tonight was his best showing yet.
-- Seth Leibsohn, National Review

Iowa State Rep. Joshua Byrnes gives his take on last night's debate

Byrnes opens with:

Wow, where does one even begin to comment following this debate. I think it's obvious that Gov. Perry is in survival mode as he now appears to be more on the offense than defense.

Regarding Newt, he writes:

I think the biggest "elephant" in the room not being talked about is Newt's performance. I read some articles this morning about last night's debate that don't even mention Newt's name.

In so many of these debates the former Speaker has been the clear winner based on debate, policy, and, political experience. I also like the fact that he stays above the attacks of the other GOP candidates and stays on message.

I seriously think we need to step back and analyze this situation. You have a candidate with experience on a federal level, has experience with foreign policy, worked in a bi-partisan manner with President Clinton to balance a budget and reform welfare, has served as consultant on many national security issues, and drafted many sound reform policies and we don't put him at the top of the list of candidates?

What is it that is holding the Gingrich campaign back? Media? Money? Is this an example of what is wrong with American politics in that the he/she with the most money wins? As a Republican I have not endorsed a candidate but given the tailspin this country is in it may be time to elect a person with some experience and end this on-the-job training method we have used for the most important political position in the United States.

Another person explains why they are #withNewt

Arron Fowlkster writes:

A candidate should be chosen based upon his ability, to not only engage the left, but to overcome their ideologies. The primary candidate that has the ability to do this is none other than Newt Gingrich. The upcoming election will be a dogfight, a no holds barred battle in which rhetorical jabs will be traded like sub prime mortgages in 2007. The Republicans need a warrior that has proven himself, to not only rally supporters, but to unify those within the party on a common goal and Gingrich has done this before.

...

It was also Gingrich that unified congress to bring about welfare reform, and with a current leader who seems pressed on creating a utopian welfare society, the Republicans need Gingrich’s ability and experience to overcome the current president and defeat the ever reoccurring issues of the budget, welfare, and taxes.

(Song) Be with Newt by Colleen Porter

Link.

(Video) Sarah Palin discussing the #cnndebate

Link.

Because he stuck to the issues and didn't engage in sniping with other candidates, Newt won, says Palin.

Newt Now. Leadership Now.

Link to the latest video from Newt 2012.

Newt in 3rd place in Ohio and Hawaii

Public Policy Polling released their two latest surveys today, from Ohio and Hawaii.

They find Newt in third by himself in Ohio and tied for third in Hawaii.

In Ohio, his favorability rating is 56/32. He gets equal support form both those who consider themselves to be part of the tea party movement and those who do not. That's as opposed to Cain, who relies on support from the tea party movement, and Romney, who relies on support of those who do not.

PPP wrote: "Why Cain's leads are very fragile -- only 35-36% of his supporters say they're firmly committed to him."

In Hawaii, Newt's favorables are 53/35. Newt is above water across-the-board: 44/33 with moderates, 53/38 among somewhat conservative voters, and 63/28 among very conservative voters. As well as among both men and women, as he was in Ohio.

Newt's favorables among Asian-Americans in Hawaii are second only to Cain. Of course, the all-knowing media chortled at Newt's inclusion of them in his campaign. Will the media report that the inclusioin has seemed to have worked? Of course not.

Howard Kurtz on Newt's comeback

Kurtz opens with:

Newt Gingrich summoned his remaining staff to the conference room of his K Street office in June, shortly after much of his team had defected, and delivered an old-fashioned pep talk.

“This is a football season,” he said. “You don’t just kick off the ball and win. Someone’s going to come hit you. We got hit. Get up.”

Gingrich told the team that his challenge over the summer was survival, followed by the chance for a breakout in the fall. And as the Republican presidential contenders prepare for a CNN debate Tuesday night in Las Vegas, he has, at the very least, cleared the first goal.

Kurtz on the rest of the field's inexperience in foreign policy:

Unlike the governors and ex-governors seeking the nomination, Gingrich has been thinking seriously about national issues for a quarter-century. Unlike Cain, who in recent interviews offered no plan on Afghanistan, was unfamiliar with the Palestinian “right of return” issue, and had trouble pronouncing Uzbekistan, Gingrich has been dealing with foreign policy since the Reagan administration.

Kurtz makes two references to money coming into the campaign recently at a "greatly increased" pace.

Kurtz quotes Rich Galen as saying that Newt's past will drag him down if -- and, in my opinion, when -- he gets into the top 2. Galen acts as if no one is aware of Newt's entire life, and only when he raises up in the polls will people know about it.

That, of course, is nonsense. Newt is as scrutinized as any politician of the last 30 years, and the past is already built into Newt's numbers. But Galen -- for whatever reason -- is the go-to-guy in many articles for a negative Newt quote. And he doesn't fail this time.

National Review and Grover Norquist on 9-9-9

The editors of National Review wrote a piece yesterday about Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan in which they say it is "unworthy of conservative support." They write:

The two-stage scheme is self-defeating in another respect as well. The 30 percent national sales tax, whatever its other merits, would be significantly softer on the poor than the 9-9-9 transitional step, since the larger sales tax includes a “prebate” check to all Americans to exempt the basic necessities of life from being taxed, while 9-9-9 includes no similar provision. Leaving aside whether a major tax increase on people at the bottom of the income scale is a good idea, what is the point of first raising their taxes and then cutting them?

Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, used an original analogy:

He argued that each of the three taxes could end up growing, saying it was like “[putting] tapeworms in your tummy to try and maintain your weight — they may have their own idea about their growth patterns and what they want to do.”

(Video) Newt and Climate Change

Link.

Iowa GOP: Caucuses will be January 3rd

Writes Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines-Register: "IA GOP central committee's Steve Scheffler: The date is in stone, period. There is no chance we will reconvene to change the date."

Which officially means I will be in Iowa for New Year's Eve. Probably going door-to-door for the 45th President of the United States.

(Audio) Newt interviewed on Frank Roche Show

Link. (Thanks to Tressie for linking to it.)

Newt third in another poll -- this one in Iowa

In a new InsiderAdvantage poll out today, Newt comes in third in the state that will hold the first nominating contest.

Unlike with Public Policy Polling, the in-depth data is not published, so the rankings are all we have:

Herman Cain -- 26%
Mitt Romney -- 18%
Newt Gingrich -- 12%
Michele Bachmann -- 11%
Ron Paul -- 10%
Rick Perry -- 6%
Jon Huntsman -- 1%
Someone else -- 3%
Undecided -- 13%

Just like with the Ohio poll that will be released this week, Perry is in sixth place in this survey.

I can't help myself

Sign your campaign is faltering: your campaign manager's last four tweets are about football.

Newt in 3rd in Ohio. Fundraising double what it was at this point in Q3.

Tonight, Public Policy Polling teased their Ohio GOP Presidential poll:

Newt in 3rd in Ohio. We've been finding pretty good numbers for him for 3 weeks now. (link)

Cain's favorability with OH Republicans is 68/13. Momentum continues. Of course 6 weeks ago that's where Perry would've been (link)

Rick Perry in 6th place at 5% in Ohio. Beats only Huntsman, Santorum, Johnson. Still falling... (link)

And from IowaPolitics.com: "A statement from press secretary R.C. Hammond said that October donations are coming in at “double the pace” from the same point in the second quarter."

(Video) Newt's interview with Candy Crowley of CNN Sunday

Link.

A terrific post from RedState.com -- a report from a Newt event in South Carolina

Dmitriy Shaprio writes:

It is not hard to understand why Gingrich is attractive to GOP voters. His conservative record extends decades before the political emergence of the others. He is seen as a hero within the GOP for engineering the “Contract with America” in 1994, giving Republicans their first majority in Congress in forty years. Gingrich’s brain was once described as a “National Treasure,” complimenting his immense intelligence, that judging from this event, is even more impressive in person. Fortunately, his importance was not lost on the attendees; most members of the Columbia Tea Party were above middle age or retirees.

Gingrich’s speech or answers to audience questions was not a compilation of talking points. He didn’t talk down to the voters as other candidates often do, and the audience thanked him with their numerous standing ovations. Gingrich also did not attempt to play to the desires of the crowd, remaining authentic throughout. When asked by an audience member whether he would support the “fair” tax – a popular issue among Tea Party voters – Gingrich politely responded with a “no,” and went into a detailed explanation why not, and his own solution. Yet, this did not affect his support from the audience.

The Tea Party seems to be split on their choice of candidates, but Gingrich is still a contender. On September 26th, Tea Party Nationfounder, Judson Phillips, announced his endorsement for Gingrich, citing electability, conservatism, overall vision, and skill displayed in debates as key motivators.

Shapiro continues:

He revealed to attendees at the next day’s breakfast meet and greet, that he wanted to put together a youth movement for his campaign. His idea focused on getting college and high school organizers talking to their peers about the future of Social Security. For those wondering what careers the future holds for them, as most students are, retirement is not an issue that motivates them into action. Rachel Keane, 17, of Stanley, North Carolina, who will only be old enough to vote in the general election, yet is still remarkably involved politically, remarked “I think Social Security must be an important issue. I am tired of people complaining about it, but not telling me why.” Through my discussion with her and her father, Whit Keane, an entrepreneur, this is not a small matter, as her knowledge of political issues far exceeds many twice her age. Despite this, both expressed that Gingrich’s platform resonates well with them, and that it would be a shame if Republicans overlook such an important political thinker, with such a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Here is the link to the post, and for those who have not seen it, here is a video of Judson Phillips explaining why he endorsed Newt:

Blog post: Four Reasons the nominee will be Newt or Cain

(Well, we know which of those two it will be, right?)

In a very interesting piece, Doug Deal writes:

By antagonizing their opponents too vigorously, pretty much every candidate has done something to lose a little second choice standing with voters. Every candidate except Newt. I think that this is a very deliberate strategy to pick up voters as their candidates drop out or become otherwise unattractive. If timed properly, Newt could be in a very good position after the shakeup that will come after the early primaries.

And:

Success has a way of building on itself. It is mainly an expectations game. As people see that you are doing better, they expect you to do better in the future, and this biases opinion. Both Gingrich and Cain are jumping in the polls, which buys them free press and a certain buzz. Voters begin to think that these guys can win and that attracts even more support. They say that everyone loves a winner, but the truth is that they also love someone who looks like they can win just as much, maybe more.

You can read the full piece here.

Newt will be on CNN Sunday at 9 AM ET

From Newt's Facebook page:

Newt will be discussing his surge in the polls, the upcoming debate, and his 21st Century Contract with America.

Make sure to watch, and invite a friend!

6am PT/ 8am CT/ 9am ET