(Video) Newt: "We Will Win a Cataclysmic Victory in 2012"

Link to another great video from blogspotKitmanTV.

An outstanding video by a Newt supporter. Take a look.

Link.

What are Newt supporters saying?

Here is a great article by Justin Gray (here is his Twitter account).

Please read the whole thing, but here is his conclusion:

In the final analysis, it is imperative for the GOP Presidential Nominee to be a solid Conservative who can win the general election and successfully return America to the Constitutional Republic our Founding Fathers envisioned. To unravel the top-down, authoritarian, freedom strangling policies the hard Left has implemented. The importance of the 2012 election cannot be overstated nor who we choose as our Republican nominee. Newt Gingrich is the Great Debater and master tactician with a solid record of Conservative achievement who has been thoroughly vetted on a national level. For these reasons and many more I hope you will join me by rallying around Newt Gingrich in the primary process and ultimately as the next President of the United States.

I received this e-mail earlier today from Will Wade (here he is on Twitter):

While listening to the intelligent and meaningful discussion from the callers and Newt Gingrich regarding Lean Six Sigma and the need for its implementation to make our Government efficient and cost effective, I have this thought that could be the "battle cry" to all American's - 'Necessity is the mother of invention.' The time is now in our nation’s history to act. We can no longer just know that we need to make this correction we must DO this corrective action! We must demand our representatives make this change and start the process 9/1/2011. I am no expert on this process but I am willing to be a part of this solution. Furthermore, many companies are making this change (to some degree) to survive and families are even making these changes to survive out of necessity.

In the structure of our government we have the problem of there being the spirit and mentality that "it is everyone's job, then it becomes nobody's job". We need clear vision and as one caller said- "this needs to come from the top!"

I am with Newt on this and I believe that you should be with him too!

Ready and willing to act,

Will Wade
Dawsonville, GA USA

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."

Newt's interview tonight with Sean Hannity (video)

Part 1.



Part 2.

Newt in e-mail to supporters: "Because the renewal of America can only begin with you, this will be your campaign."

Newt sent an e-mail to supporters on Friday:

America is in an economic crisis.

More Americans are without jobs, and for longer periods of time, than at any time in our history since the Great Depression.

I am running for President because we need to insist on dramatic and bold changes in Washington and in the policies that are killing jobs.

There is no more important task for the next president. President Obama has shown that he is not equal to the task. He has failed to lead effectively to solve these economic challenges. In fact his policies and his attitudes have made the economy worse. He needs to be replaced.

America is based on the belief that men and women are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As a result, America for 235 years has been a beacon of hope and opportunity for every person willing to work hard and create a better life.

But today, hope and opportunity are at risk.

In 2007 and 2008, candidate Obama ran a decentralized campaign that placed its trust in the American people. But upon his election, President Obama asked the American people to place their trust in Washington.

When I announced my candidacy for President of the United States on May 11, I set out to run a substantive, solutions-oriented campaign built upon an alternative idea.

To make Washington smaller, we as citizens must become bigger.

We must persuade one person at a time, one family at a time, and one community at a time that we have better solutions than the corrupted, collectivist policies we’ve seen from Washington.

Because the renewal of America can only begin with you, this will be your campaign.

As someone who has been in public life for nearly forty years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. I will endure them. I will carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes.

Next Monday, I will take part in the first New Hampshire Republican primary debate.

The critical question of how we put Americans back to work will be asked of me and the other Republican candidates.

It is the most important question of this campaign.

The road ahead will not be easy for America. As a citizen who loves his country and does not want to see it fail, I will humbly offer my vision for renewing America’s future alongside the other candidates.

And I will work every day of this campaign to make this vision of American renewal a reality.

But in the end saving America and getting us out of the Obama Depression and back to a working, prosperous America will take your voice, your work, and your support.

Together we can create a much better future for America.


Your friend,

Newt

Poll: Newt up nine points in the last two months against Obama; runs second to Romney in matchup with Obama

The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll has gotten a lot of attention for the fact that Mitt Romney beats President Obama in a head-to-head matchup, 49-46%. He is the only Republican to be in a lead.

But there was also good news for Newt in the poll. First, despite all the D.C. buzz, Newt's support among Republicans has increased four points since the last such poll in mid-April.

Against Obama, Newt has improved nine points since then.

Newt is in a virtual tie (with Rudy Giuliani, who may or may not run) for third place should Sarah Palin get in the race. With Palin out, Newt is tied with Giuliani for second.

Matt Towery: Gingrich "could easily" rebound should he win June 13 debate

Matt Towery, a former Gingrich staffer and now CEO of InsiderAdvantage, writes that while Newt had a shaky rollout, "if he wins the first debate later this month, his candidacy could easily be resurrected."

It's an important point, because while Newt has suffered some bad press, he is still at the top of polls, including the most important one: Iowa. (For my post earlier today about the latest Iowa poll, click here.)

Four years ago, John McCain was cratering in the polls and on the verge of running out of campaign money. But through his performances in town halls and debates, he rebounded to win the nomination.

Newt is nowhere near the low that McCain had. A great debate performance, followed by holding numerous events in the early states -- especially Iowa -- and Newt will rise in the polls.

My take on today's Iowa poll by PPP

Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a new survey today of Iowa Republican voters.

Back in April, Newt was at 9%, good for fourth. Today he was at 12%, which is still fourth place. (One thing that is interesting, and goes against the media's "conventional wisdom, is that 21% of those polled have not formed an opinion of Newt, which is higher than both Sarah Palin (by 10 points) and Mitt Romney (by 6 points).

If Sarah Palin does not run, Newt's support rises to 15%, moving him to third.

Truthfully, however, there is no clear order after Mitt Romney. With Palin out of the race, it would probably be more accurate to say that the next three -- Hermain Cain, Newt, and Michelle Bachmann -- are tied for second. If Palin runs, the hierarchy is a little more clear but still muddled.

With Palin:

Romney: 21%
Cain: 15%
Palin: 15%
Gingrich: 12%
Bachmann: 11%
Pawlenty: 10%
Paul: 8%
Undecided: 8%

Without Palin:

Romney: 26%
Cain: 16%
Gingrich: 15%
Bachmann: 14%
Paul: 11%
Pawlenty: 10%
Undecided: 8%

While Romney is the frontrunner now, it is to be seen if his poll numbers will erode should he choose to, if not altogether skip Iowa, then downplay the first contest. Another factor is how much a drag Romneycare will be on him once more voters become aware of it.

The Ames Straw Poll on August 13 will be the first big test of the different campaigns' ability to organize their supporters. And in that regard, Newt -- according to both Craig Robinson and Kevin Hall of The Iowa Republican -- is at the top.

Hall, on May 23, wrote: "The other presidential candidates would love to be able to draw crowds the way Gingrich did last week."

Robinson, back in April, had this to say: "That story went out the window when nearly 200 people showed up on a Friday night to see a documentary that has played on FOX News numerous times. Turning out that kind of crowd on a Friday night in downtown Des Moines was impressive. It was also something most other potential 2012 candidate have yet to do in Iowa."

Robinson also wrote that if Newt can "meet or exceed expectations" at the Ames Straw Poll, "he could use the numerous debates that follow to propel his campaign to a victory in Iowa and elsewhere."

Was the D.C. establishment -- gasp -- wrong about Newt's campaign?

Just a week or so ago, the common wisdom among journalists inside Washington D.C. was that Newt's campaign -- due to the comments about Paul Ryan and the surrounding dust up -- was on life support. Some even suggested he would drop out before July.

Then, the reports of overflow crowds at each and every of his Iowa appearances began to trickle in. As Newt has noted, the only national reporter to actually show up was NPR's Mara Liasson, who said the crowds and enthusiasm was nothing like she was hearing back in D.C. Chuck Todd, NBC's White House Correspondent, tweeted: "As folks prepare Sunday columns writing off Gingrich, riddle this: he's attracting large crowds; Conservative elite-Iowa grassroots split?"

Then, Newt has been in New Hampshire the past two days, talking to about 600 people total, says The Washington Post.

photo: R.C. Hammond











While the actual voters showed no interest in Newt's jewelry purchases, Nia-Malika Henderson passes along the following exchange with a fellow reporter and Newt:

Will your charge account at Tiffany sink your campaign, a Reuters reporter asked.

“I want you all to notice, finally, the citizens having failed to raise the most important question of the day. I was asked about a charge account at Tiffany’s,” he said, standing before a crowd of about 200 people, who didn’t boo but laughed at his sarcasm. “Now, I’m grateful that somebody here finally had the courage to go to one of the hot-button issues that will change America’s future.”

Henderson quotes Newt: “I’ve got to be more careful and make certain that it’s virtually impossible to misunderstand what I’m saying. I’ve got to be less academic and more explicit,” he said at the Conway Diner. “And we’ve got to get faster at responding to stories that are just totally false. We are still a half-step behind doing that. We eventually burn them out, but it takes longer than it should.”

Henderson included an interesting tidbit that I have not seen reported yet: "Over the next week, Gingrich will work on two major speeches to be delivered in June, one on foreign policy and another on the Federal Reserve."

So Newt had a great response in Iowa and New Hampshire (and he will be in South Carolina Friday, where he will discuss the federal power reach in the Boeing case.) National polls (here and here) show Newt still in good position.

With all that, it looks like the D.C. media was wrong about trying to stick a fork in Newt's campaign. Not that surprising when you consider just a few things the media has been wrong about;

It was also wrong about Ronald Reagan being unelectable. And wrong about Reagan's economic policies. (As Reagan himself said: "I could tell our economic policy was working when [the media] stopped calling it Reaganomics.") And Reagan's foreign policy.

The media laughed at Newt when he said the Republicans would gain a majority in the House. They said he would never become Speaker. Then they doubted Newt and the House Republicans would fulfill the Contract with America. Then the media doubted that welfare reform could be passed. And when it was passed, they predicted terrible things for those leaving welfare, not two of every three either going to work or school. The media said it was impossible to balance the budget.

So does it surprise anyone that they were wrong about this?

Newt announces his national co-chairs and Georgia chair

ABC:

Former Georgia Govs. Sonny Perdue and Zell Miller, who also served as a U.S. Senator, will serve as national chairmen of Gingrich’s campaign. Miller, a Democrat, famously denounced John Kerry at the 2004 Republican National Convention and supported George W. Bush’s re-election campaign.

Current Gov. Nathan Deal will chair Gingrich's campaign in Georgia.

“I’m proud to have three very important Georgians helping lead our campaign,” Gingrich said in a statement. “Sonny, Zell and Nathan are good friends and have always provided good counsel. They will be there very important voices as we talk to the American people about the right policies we need to win the future."

"America, at this critical juncture, needs a leader who has the discernment and understanding of where America needs to go, and the courage and leadership to implement that vision,” Perdue said in a statement. “Newt Gingrich has what it takes to do both."

“Newt is a leader,” Miller said in a statement. “Newt’s election as president is critical to the future of our country. We need a leader who has proven they can make big things happen. You don’t do big things by being a wall flower.”

At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Gingrich said he will play in all the early states and has asked his supporters in Georgia to split their time campaigning between the neighboring states of Florida and South Carolina. Gingrich’s campaign is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.

Newt picks up Joe Barton's (R-TX) endorsement

Barton joins three from Georgia's U.S. House delegation -- Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston, and Tom Price -- in endorsing Gingrich.

Barton is another Republican from Texas who is supporting Newt. Two members of Texas Governor's Rick Perry's 2010 re-election campaign -- Rob Johnson and Dave Carney -- will be Gingrich's campaign manager and top New Hampshire consultant, respectively.

More on Newt's strategy; will compete everywhere and for every voter

Jonathan Martin of Politico has some details about Newt's campaign strategy:

Unlike some of his likely rivals, who are looking to downplay or even flat out skip some states on the primary calendar, Gingrich is headed down a different path, a more traditional route in which he will compete aggressively across the early-state map and among all blocs within the party.

...

Gingrich officials say their effort will be bigger than any one state and look dramatically different than any other campaign.

...

Said another Gingrich adviser: “Newt’s a national candidate. He has a national brand. He’s a national leader.”

...

They want to use technology not only to engage their local supporters but to empower them.

“We want to invite people to participate and be a part of the campaign instead of just having some stale, boring ‘here’s where Newt is tomorrow,’” a Gingrich strategist said.

Though a historian by training, the former speaker has always been something of a futurist, fascinated by the latest technology and next trends on the horizon.

That’s partly why he’s signed up Carney and campaign manager Rob Johnson, both of whom were top advisers to Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Partly informed by social science experimentation in Perry’s 2006 reelection campaign, the governor’s 2010 campaign didn’t spend money on direct mail, paid phone calls, lawn signs or newspaper ads.

Gingrich won’t necessarily follow suit, but he emphatically says he wants to wage a different sort of campaign.

...

“Anyone right of center is a target,” [New Hampshire consultant Dave] Carney said, when asked who Gingrich’s voters are. “Serious candidates are going to have compete everywhere.”

The entire electorate has not already locked in an opinion of Newt, as many suggest

One of the many bits of conventional wisdom surrounding the coverage of Newt Gingrich the past few months is that due to his high-profile Speakership from 1995-1998 and continuing to appear on Fox News for nearly the past decade, that everyone knows of him. And more importantly, everyone knows whether they will support him or not already. Thus, the argument goes, Newt has no room to grow.

Rich Galen, a Republican strategist who used to work for Newt, summed up this line of thinking by telling The Washington Post:

“Newt’s name ID is 130 (percent) so just about everyone who has ever even flipped by a cable news channel en route an NCIS rerun knows who (he) is, and has an opinion of him."

While Newt's name identification -- 80-85% -- is quite high, it is in line with the other GOP frontrunners: Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Mitt Romney. More importantly, in my opinion, is that it is a soft identification (some polls put the undecided about Newt number at nearly 40%). While Galen and others are right that most people know of him, how well do they know him? A recent CBS poll even had more Republican primary voters undecided about Newt than Huckabee.

It is easy for Beltway writers and political consultants to assume that everyone in the country follows politics as closely day-to-day as they do. The fact, of course, is most do not. So while most have heard of Gingrich, they may not have necessarily formed a solid opinion of him. In fact, as Matt Towery pointed out recently, nearly half of the public does not even know Newt was Speaker of the House. Some of that is the younger voters who were not old enough to remember obviously but that does not explain all of it.

But, according to Towery's data, when people are told of the numerous accomplishments during the time Newt was Speaker -- a balanced federal budget four years in a row for the first time in 70 years at the same time taxes were being cut, along with the only time an entitlement program (Welfare) has been significantly rolled back -- he shoots to the top of Republican voters' lists.

And while there were controversial parts of Newt's time as Speaker, a focus group of Frank Luntz's that I have discussed before shows that those low moments may not mean much at all:

Gingrich continues to enjoy a gut connection with Republican voters. Back in 2005, consultant Frank Luntz held focus groups in Iowa and New Hampshire on the Republican candidates. In a report published afterward, Luntz wrote, 'We were genuinely surprised by the strongly favorable reaction' to Gingrich's 'speeches and interviews.' According to Luntz, voters ignored, or in some cases forgot, the controversial nature of Gingrich's speakership. 'The words he spoke were like nothing they had heard from anyone else,' Luntz went on. 'While he didn't start either session with any measurable support, he ended both Iowa and New Hampshire sessions with the most new converts.' Out of office, Gingrich has remained largely insulated from the scandals and debacles of the Bush Republicans. In fact, the 2006 midterm election results could be viewed as confirmation of what Gingrich has been saying for some time: that the Republican party and broader conservative movement have lost their way, and the time has come for a rebirth of the reform impulse that in 1994 brought the GOP to congressional majority status for the first time in 40 years.

Earlier this year, Luntz did a focus group in Iowa in which he played clips of all the GOP contenders -- and Newt took the top spot.

Here is a partial video of the focus group:


All of which is to say that Newt has plenty of room to grow -- and he is already in good standing in polls. If he sticks to a few issues -- his record balancing the budget and the other policy wins as Speaker, jobs, energy, and security -- the public will rally to him.

Newt will hold a dozen events in Iowa next week

Carmen Cox of ABC has the following details of Newt's next week:

At 8 a.m. Friday in Washington at the Fairmont Hotel, he will give an economics speech sponsored by Laffer Associates -- as in Arthur Laffer, creator of the Laffer Curve and the godfather of supply side economics. On Friday night, Newt will give his first official campaign speech in Atlanta.

On Saturday, he'll be in Illinois to give the commencement speech at Ronald Reagan's alma mater, Eureka College. On Sunday, Gingrich will appear on Meet the Press.

Newt will then spend almost all of next week in Iowa -- a dozen campaign events spread out over Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday, he'll head across the border for an event in Minnesota.

The speech in front of Laffer's group is interesting. While it sounds like it isn't an official endorsement, it might be a sign that Laffer -- and other supply-siders -- are not too crazy about the other candidates. CNBC host Larry Kudlow, another influential supply-sider, recently had Newt on his TV and radio shows as well as participated in an American Solutions workshop in 2008.

Cox continues:

Gingrich's campaign organization has already started to take shape. He's already secured space for his campaign headquarters in Atlanta and will soon have a campaign office opening in northern Virginia. And he's hired a campaign manager: 36-year-old Rob Johnson who, most recently, ran Governor Rick Perry's reelection campaign in Texas.

The former Speaker of the House will position himself as the experienced conservative: he's the only candidate who can say he personally fought for and delivered a balanced federal budget, tax cuts, and welfare reform -- all signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

"The response to inexperience should be experience," says Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler.

Newt to announce tomorrow on Facebook and Twitter. Interviewed at 9 ET by Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Newt will officially enter the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary tomorrow when he announces on Facebook and Twitter.

His first interview as a Presidential candidate will be on "Hannity" on Fox News. Gingrich's first speech as a candidate will be Friday in front of the Georgia Republican state convention.

Romney blaming Iowa and South Carolina problem on religion?

I have written previously about the apparent strategy of Mitt Romney to not "play" in Iowa and South Carolina. Two recent columns -- one by Craig Robinson of the IowaRepublican and the other by Ben Smith of Politico -- discusses that strategy.

Robinson, in writing that the former Massachusetts Governor has not been in the Hawkeye State for 195 days, destroys that claim by Romney's camp and the mainstream media -- including Smith of Politico -- that Romney does not do well in conservative states because he belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. If conservatives were such bigots -- to a religious group, by the way, that is one of the most conservative -- Robinson asks wouldn't have Orrin Hatch faced such criticism when he ran for President? And if Iowa Republicans were so opposed to Mormons, how could Matt Schultz have won a "contentious primary" against the Republican favored by the establishment in the 2010 race for Secretary of State? (Robinson does not mention him, but Jon Huntsman, who will likely be running for President this cycle, has not been dragged down by being a Mormon either.)

So, Robinson asks, maybe it's not Romney's religious faith but his record? His record of flip-flopping on abortion and marriage. His health care bill that is essentially the same as Obamacare. (Romney supporters who distinguish the two bills by saying one was a state and one was a federal statute miss the point of federalism. If government is controlling your life, it does not matter much if the bureau is located in your state capital or the nation's. Federalism is essentially a legal argument: the states have domain over certain issues and the federal government has domain over a few, which does not include forcing citizens to buy health insurance. That makes Obamacare unconstitutional -- on top of bad policy. Romneycare is not unconstitutional -- just terrible policy.)

Robinson quotes Chuck Lauder, a former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Iowa, saying: "The entire fiction [that Romney is being dragged down by his faith] is a twin of the same loser argument that to be opposed to Obamacare means you're a racist."

If Romney hopes to do better in Iowa and South Carolina, along with other states with large numbers of conservatives, he would be well served to not have his campaign hint that the only reason people could possibly have to oppose him is his religion.

Newt's new campaign manager's views on social media

From an article a month before the 2010 election, when Rob Johnson was Rick Perry's campaign manager:

Campaign staffers and Perry himself are quick to point out that the governor's not exactly hurting for name recognition. So instead of plastering the state with Perry's name on stickers and yard signs, says campaign manager Rob Johnson, the staff is leaning heavily on the new online tools.

"We don't have paid headquarters in towns across the state," Johnson said. "We don't have physical offices. We don't do any of those annoying auto-dialers. We're depending completely, entirely, on social networks and personal contact, rather than the traditional way of doing things that most people say you have to do to win campaigns. (The governor) has embraced this technology and embraced these social platforms. We follow his lead."

Dave Carney of New Hampshire "to be heavily involved" in Newt's campaign

While calling Carney a "major player," Politico writes:

Carney, the former White House political director under George H.W. Bush, confirmed Friday what's long been widely rumored in New Hampshire political circles. After helping out with Gingrich's exploratory committee, he's planning to be heavily involved in the coming campaign, he said in an interview.

Carney said he believes Gingrich is the right man for the moment.

"I think we need big ideas," he said. "Now is the time for a big idea campaign. We're not going to win on micro issues or silly issues. We need big reforms, big ideas, a person who has a track record of big ideas."

A longtime ally of the Sununu family, Carney was Bob Dole's top consultant in 1996 and currently serves as the top political adviser to Texas Gov. Rick Perry. He's been spotted ushering Gingrich around New Hampshire in recent months.

Asked whether he believed Gingrich could win the presidency, Carney said, "Anybody can win." Americans, he said, are eager to toss out the Obama administration.

"Democrats are totally clueless when it comes to the middle of America, the flyover states," Carney said. "They just don't get it. That's why."

Rob Johnson as campaign manager, Joe Gaylord will reportedly stay at American Solutions

On Friday, there was the not-so-surprising news that Rob Johnson, who managed Texas Governor Rick Perry's 2010 Gubernatorial campaign, would become the campaign manager of Newt's Presidential run. Johnson first signed on with Newt -- in an advisory role -- back in March. (Another former Perry staffer -- called Perry's "top political consultant -- Dave Carney is helping Newt out in New Hampshire.)

Johnson's "special strength," says Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler, "is how to harness the Internet for modern campaigns. He did that in Texas and he will have the same capability for Gingrich nationally."

A bit shockingly:

In a surprise move, Tyler said Gingrich’s closest political adviser, Joe Gaylord, will remain as CEO of American Solutions for Winning the Future, the 527 political committee that Gingrich set up about five years ago to promulgate conservative positions.

Gaylord, a native of Iowa, had been widely expected to be a senior adviser to a Gingrich campaign.

In more staff news:

Tyler also said that Sam Dawson, a protégé of Lee Atwater who has been advising Gingrich this year as he explored making a run for the White House, will be a senior political consultant to the campaign. Dawson, who worked for former Gov. Carroll Campbell of South Carolina and has been close to Gingrich since the mid 1990s, also did a stint as the executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee.