The former House speaker was fired up and had a terrific debate. Substance on the issues has always been his forte and Newt showed that. He was also combative with the moderators, demanding they ask substantive questions. The audience responded very strongly to that. Gingrich showed a fire and passion that conservatives are longing for. He would utterly dismantle Barack Obama in a one-on-one debate. It was a terrific performance.
...his grasp of history and his ability to reference it in some of his answers is incredible…The best moment of the debate came when Gingrich took Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace to task. Doing so was risky, but Gingrich came off as the most serious candidate on the stage last night.
[Newt Gingrich] was forceful without looking undistinguished, aggressive without losing his self-dignity, informed, informative, and put leadership ahead of policy. This was the Gingrich of the 1994 Republican Revolution.
Craig Shirley:
Gingrich was simply head and shoulders above the rest. This is the Newt people have been waiting for; an articulate and forceful conservative who knows the world he lives in.
Go onto Newt.org and read the rest. Lots of great quotes.
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.
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."
Kevin Hall of The Iowa Republicanwrote an article today in which he discussed the great week Newt had in the Hawkeye State -- despite the bad national press the former Speaker received.
Hall:
One week after he launched his presidential campaign, the pundits were declaring Gingrich had already lost. However, if you attended any of Gingrich’s town hall meetings across Iowa, you saw quite a different story. At every single one of his 17 stops, Gingrich packed the house. The other presidential candidates would love to be able to draw crowds the way Gingrich did last week. At this point, none of them have proven they can. TheIowaRepublican.com caught up with Gingrich toward the end of the tour on Friday, after he talked to a crowd of 65 in Le Mars.
"The fascinating thing is, of all the people who talk on Washington television, only one has come to Iowa to see what’s actually happening," Gingrich said. "And she ended up saying 'You know, this is a real campaign, with real support,' and she was just totally turned around because she came to two meetings, they were both overflow, they both had to go to a bigger room. And she looked around and she said 'This doesn't resemble anything the Washington reporters are talking about.' So, I invite anybody who would like to see what’s happening in the real campaign to come out and spend a day with me."
Hall: "Although Gingrich might have been exhausted from his interminably long week, you would not have known it once he began speaking to the Le Mars crowd. Gingrich’s appeal comes in his ability to talk about complicated policy issues and break them down into simple terms. Frankly, there is no politician in America that can match Gingrich’s ability to do this. That is what made him such a popular guest on Fox News Channel."
"Well, I think if you asked the people in there, I suspect none of them thought this was the end of the road," Gingrich said. "I think they thought it was the beginning of the road."
Hall added: "That road to the Iowa Caucus is an extremely long one. Perhaps Newt’s biggest potholes and speed bumps are behind him."
While Newt received terrible press nationally, actual voters -- the very ones who will determine the first nominating contest -- are turning out in droves for Newt, who are apparently paying no attention to the Washington establishment media.
Hall's point about no other campaign being able to attract such a large crowd is very important anywhere but especially in Iowa, whose caucus is all about organization. Newt appears to be in the lead in that regard.
It is also not the first time someone writing for The Iowa Republican was impressed by a large crowd Newt attracted in Iowa. The previous event was even before Newt had officially entered the race and was a screening of his documentary Rediscovering God in America, which, as the author noted at the time, had been aired on FOX News "numerous times."
House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer is a big backer of the former U.S. House Speaker, but she has been very busy with the legislative session. Gingrich already has a large staff that works for his various groups, and they can easily be transferred to Iowa to build his ground game. Gingrich is another candidate likely to pick up field staffers once the legislative session ends.
Given that Iowa's legislative session will likely end by April 28 and that Newt could very well officially be in the race just a couple of days after that, the last sentence of that quote looks to be right on the money.
"Our generation's rendezvous with destiny is now. Ronald Reagan's legacy will live on through us. I'm Newt Gingrich, and together we can win the future."
"We need to isolate and crush the secular-socialist left."
