(Video) Newt's interview on Huckabee from Saturday

Link.

Video of Newt being interviewed by Huckabee

Link.

Big Huckabee 2008 supporters join Newt's team

The entire press release:

Atlanta, GA – Grassroots leaders who supported 2008 Georgia presidential primary winner Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have taken leadership roles supporting Newt 2012. Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise, State Representative Harry Geisinger and Georgia Grassroots leader Maria Strollo Zack will each play a role in building Newt 2012 organization in Georgia.

"We will run a citizen campaign built on solutions that will bring real change to Washington," Gingrich said. "I am honored to have these volunteer leaders join our campaign. This is the beginning of campaign that will take power out of Washington and return it to the citizens."

"I'm supporting Newt because he embodies the positive forward thinking spirit of Ronald Reagan," said State Representative Harry Geisinger, former Georgia Huckabee Co-Chairman and Reagan appointee. "He has the experience of balancing the federal budget, and will overturn Obamacare. Newt Gingrich is the only man that has the national experience we need."

Former Huckabee Co-Chairman Maria Strollo Zack expressed her support for Gingrich, "From the grassroots point of view, no other candidate has the conservative credentials, leadership experience and grasp of issues, and solutions, to beat Barack Obama."

Gov. Nathan Deal is serving as the chairman of Newt 2012 in Georgia. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Newt Gingrich when he led the House as speaker. In this time of fiscal crisis, only one candidate in the field has a proven record of creating a balanced federal budget – Georgia’s own Newt Gingrich. Newt’s the visionary, solutions-oriented leader we need. Like so many other Georgians giving Newt their support, I consider him a friend, and I’m proud to stand with him in this campaign.”

Newt Gingrich, who moved to Georgia when his father was serving in the Army at Fort Benning, graduated from Baker High School, went to college at Emory University, and taught at West Georgia College in Carrollton (now the University of West Georgia). Gingrich represented the U.S. 6th district of Georgia for twenty years, including four years as Speaker of the U.S. House.

Some of the highlights of Club for Growth's report on Newt

Club for Growth, whose negative White Paper on Mike Huckabee three years ago gave the former Arkansas Governor a lot of bad press, released their first paper this cycle today. Newt was the subject.

From the White Paper: "Gingrich can be one of the most clear-eyed and forceful advocates for supply-side economics and the value of free enterprise." They criticize him about his support of some tax credits, but as they note, there is not going to be any Presidential candidate -- especially a serious one -- who does not.

Club for Growth: "In a 2008 op-ed, he enthusiastically praised the idea of an optional, single-rate income tax reform proposal." The report does not say it, but last week Newt included an optional, 15% flat tax in his 9 point "Gingrich Jobs and Prosperity Plan."

The Club commends Newt on, among other things, free trade, wanting the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley and many other burdensome regulations, personalizing Social Security, school choice, tort reform, and political free speech.

The report's summary states:

One could reasonably expect a President Gingrich to lead America in a pro-growth and limited government direction generally, possibly with flashes of real brilliance and accomplishment, but also likely with some serious disappointments and unevenness.

Of course, the same can be said of every political leader, even Ronald Reagan, who irked many conservatives over his two terms in office -- including a young Newt Gingrich.

No one is able to get 100% of the policies they want. Ronald Reagan's philosophy was to get 70% of what he wanted, then once people saw how well it worked, he would get the remaining 30%.

Roundup of some PPP polls without Huckabee and Palin

Mike Huckabee tonight has announced he will not run for the 2012 Republican nomination. And while Sarah Palin has not announced she will not, almost all indications point to her staying out of the race.

Thus, I will re-post some polls that Public Policy Polling (PPP) has conducted the past couple of months that did not include the two former Governors:

An early April poll of Florida:

Gingrich: 30%
Mitt Romney: 28%
Michelle Bachmann: 11%
Tim Pawlenty: 10%
Ron Paul: 9%

A mid-April poll of Iowa (in which Donald Trump was also not included):

Romney: 28%
Gingrich: 19%
Paul: 16%
Bachmann: 15%

A mid-March nationwide GOP poll:

Gingrich and Romney: 24%
Paul: 12%
Pawlenty: 6%
Haley Barbour and Rick Santorum 5%

May 10 nationwide GOP poll:

Romney: 28%
Gingrich: 26%
Paul: 12%
Bachmann: 11%

Not surprisngly, Newt is helped by Huckabee and/or Palin not running

Public Policy Polling did their usual Republican Primary poll, with former Governors Palin and Huckabee included, and the results were:

1. Mike Huckabee 18%

2. Mitt Romney 17%

3. Sarah Palin 16%

4. Newt Gingrich 14%

They then polled three other scenarios that may happen: the field without Huckabee, the field without Palin, and then the field without both Palin and Huckabee. (One of Palin/Huckabee not running seems very likely; both staying out is also a good possibility.)

Without just Huckabee:

1. Romney 20%

2. Palin 19%

3. Gingrich 18%

4. Ron Paul 12%

Without just Palin:

1. Huckabee 22%

2. Gingrich 20%

3. Romney 18%

4. Paul 9%

Without Huckabee and Palin both:

1. Romney and Gingrich 24%

3. Paul 12%

4. Tim Pawlenty 6%

5. Haley Barbour and Rick Santorum 5%

The poll found that if Palin chooses not to run, 35% of her supporters would back Gingrich and 19% would vote for Romney. With Huckabee out, 26% of his fans go to Newt with 23% going to the Romney camp.

Newt's PAC raises second most among GOP, spends more in Iowa than anyone else.

According to FEC reports, American Solutions PAC raised $314,000 in the last quarter. Among Republicans, only Sarah Palin had more, with $469,000. Both her and Gingrich outpaced, as the Washington Post put it, "longtime fundraising leader" Mitt Romney. Of all the prospective Presidential candidates -- Palin, Romney, Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, etc. -- Newt was the last to start a PAC. Yet in less than a year, he is competitive with the two top fundraisers: Palin, whose committee has been up for a couple of years, and Romney, whose PAC is nearly three years old.

So where was Gingrich spending this money? He spent the third most -- behind Romney and Palin -- on contributions "to other candidates and state parties."

And interestingly, much of Gingrich's money went to the state that has held the nation's first Presidential contest since 1972: Iowa.

Danielle Kurtzleben writes:

American Solutions, a political action committee founded and chaired by Gingrich, contributed $107,500 to Iowa politicians and the state party. Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC donated $82,000 in the state, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave $50,100. Other possible presidential hopefuls spending on 2010 Iowa elections included Huckabee, who dropped $15,500; Palin, with $15,000....

Cary Covington, professor of political science at the University of Iowa, says that contributing to state officials' campaigns can go a long way toward mobilizing Republican voters. 'You need the support of the party at the local level,' says Covington. 'Getting people to come out on a cold winter night isn't easy, and (state-level politicians) are the people who have the connections and the organization to do that.'

On top of that, Newt's 527, American Solutions for Winning the Future, raised over 9.9 million dollars the first nine months of 2010. (527s can raise money in unlimited amounts, unlike PACs.)

Alexander Burns of Politico:

And even those figures won’t provide a full reckoning of Gingrich’s fundraising activities this cycle. According to data shared with Morning Score, Gingrich helped Republicans raise more than $7 million over the 2009-2010 cycle, through dozens of speeches and nearly $1.9 million raised for GOP campaign committees through direct mail. He also participated -- along with many others -- in a joint NRSC/NRCC fundraising dinner that brought in over $14 million for the two committees.

Gingrich spread his attention widely, but also put down deep financial markers in early primary states: In Iowa, Gingrich’s donations, speeches and other appeals guided some $256,000 to Republican candidates. In South Carolina, he generated $68,000 for the GOP. His New Hampshire presence was more limited, but he still brought in $5,000 at a speech to a state GOP breakfast and raised $18,000 for Sen.-elect Kelly Ayotte in combined small-dollar donations.

Given the earlier numbers, that means that through his "speeches and other appeals" in Iowa that Newt raised nearly $150,000.

Though it is not clear, it would appear that Newt's role in the larger campaign to remove three Iowa judges who called gay marriage a "constitutional right" does not count toward that above total as it was not a Republican Party effort.

Gingrich in 2nd place, says PPP.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) releasaed a poll Tuesday showing that Sarah Palin, at 21%, is first among Republicans, with Newt Gingrich's 19% support in second. Mitt Romney is narrowly behind at 18 and Mike Huckabee gets 16% of likely primary voter support.

The last such poll done by PPP had Romney at 22%, Huckabee at 21%, Gingrich at 18%, and Palin at 17%.

New Quinnipiac University poll: Top 4 Repubs between 19 and 15%

Sarah Palin gets 19%, Mitt Romney gets 18, Mike Huckabee gets 17, and Newt Gingrich gets 15.

Another tidbit: Since February 2007, Gingrich has added eight points to his favorable rating and shaved four off his unfavorable.

Gallup memo: Most wide open GOP field since '72

A new Gallup Poll has the four GOP front-runners -- Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Newt Gingrich -- bunched up between 19 and 13 percent. Romney and Palin both draw 19% support; Huckabee, 16; and Gingrich at 13. Romney and Palin's support has not changed since September, while Huckabee and Gingrich have each gained four percentage points in the two months.

Gallup's Jeffrey M. Jones writes of the race at this very early part, "The current results on Republicans' presidential nomination preferences suggest the 2012 contest could be more wide open than any since the winners began to be determined largely through state primaries and caucuses in 1972."

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post quotes a GOP consultant who worked on Romney's 2008 Presidential campaign as saying, "There has never been a field as wide open as this one is. Ever."

The liberal website Talking Points Memo put together the results of a series of Public Policy Polling polls, and they illustrate just how jumbled the race is.

More Quick Hits

From CNN's website:

Next month the former House Speaker makes a high profile visit to South Carolina, another important early voting state in the presidential primary calendar. According to a GOP source, Gingrich keynotes the Spartanburg Republican Party's Bronze Elephant Dinner on December 16.

In their latest analysis of their polls, Public Policy Polling writes:

Newt Gingrich's one and only lead in this round of 18 polls comes from North Carolina where he gets 23% to 19% for Huckabee and Palin and 14% for Romney. Meanwhile Huckabee matches his largest lead in any individual state in Kentucky where he gets 26% to 19% for Palin, 17% for Gingrich, and 13% for Romney. Gingrich and Huckabee splitting these two states is somewhat emblematic of the fact that for either to win the GOP nomination may take the other not running since a strong across the board performance in the South would be vital for both of their chances.

Some quick hits

From The Statesman:

Speaking at a forum put on by the Austin Tea Party Patriots, Gingrich was asked about his plans, as the crowd chanted, 'Newt. Newt.' Gingrich ignored the question and redirected his answer to talk about the competence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader.

...

Gingrich challenged the conservative crowd to continue advocating for small government and free market values. 'You are serving your country as a citizen when you get involved,' he told the often cheering and applauding group, which was estimated by organizers to be about 450 people strong.

...

Gingrich said he signed [the Contract from America] 'as a tea partier.'

After the event, [Tea Party Patriots organizer Greg Holloway] said: 'The people seemed energized, interested.'

From Politico:

Newt's 527, American Solutions, raised 2.7 million dollars -- "almost as much as the groups headed by his prospective rivals for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, brought in combined. [Though, as the website points out, Newt's group has fewer restrictions on raising money.]

Gingrich, the former House speaker, has used his committee, American Solutions for Winning the Future, to pay political staff and consultants, build its email list, fundraise and travel the country. Those activities are considered necessary to lay the foundation for a presidential bid, and are similar to how Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty, and former Govs. Romney of Massachusetts, Palin of Alaska and Huckabee of Arkansas have used their committees.

...

“I see a massive acceleration on the fundraising side,” [Chief Operating Officer Dan Varroney] said, rejecting the premise that American Solutions is geared towards positioning Gingrich for a 2012 presidential run. “Not at all,” he said. “Our focus is clear cut: to save America.”

From the Independent Voter Network:

Reflecting on the 1942 Democratically-controlled Congress that created what he termed 'an anti-appropriations committee, Gingrich claimed that 'a substantial number of New Deal agencies were abolished by the actions of that committee.'

...

“You can’t govern by saying no,” [Gingrich] said. “Offer a dramatically better set of solutions principled based on conservatism...but solutions...not just ideologies. And all of a sudden people look up and you have an argument.”

"The Gingrich Surge"

So says Matthew Continetti of The Weekly Standard, who wrote a cover story about Newt Gingrich in March 2007.

He notes that from March 21 to April 11, Gingrich gained six points in the CNN Republican primary polling data. "What's fascinating, though, is Newt Gingrich's surge into the top tier of presidential prospects," writes Continetti. "He's gained six points in a month, and is only one point behind Palin. His favorable number is about the same as Palin's, but his unfavorable number is significantly less....As for Gingrich, the poll definitely suggests a presidential bid could gain some traction."

Another poll also shows good news for Newt -- and the other Republican frontrunners. Public Policy Polling (PPP) pitted President Obama against Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Sarah Palin. Huckabee, by 47-45%, has the best numbers currently. Gingrich is tied with the President, 45-45%, while Romney is up 45-44%. Sarah Palin is down just two points, 47-45%.

That suggests two things: 1) Gingrich, due to a great rehabilitation on his part, is not nearly the divisive figure some still try to paint him as; and 2) Obama is in great trouble.

Newt endorses Princella Smith for Congress

Princella Smith, former spokesperson for American Solutions, is running for the House in Arkansas-01. She came to fame in 2004 when she won a MTV essay contest and earned a spot at the Republican National Convention.


When Newt founded American Solutions, Princella came on board and one of her duties was to be the chief advocate of the Platform of the American People as well as promoting the very successful "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition. She went from there to being the communications director for Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA).

Now, she is running for an open House seat that has not been held by a Republican since 1875 but which voted for John McCain by a margin of 59-38%. But that overstates the chances of getting the seat in Republican hands, because Arkansas has a history of voting GOP for President and voting Democrat down the rest of the ballot.

Still, with a good, energized campaign, a conservative candidate has got a good chance to win this district. And Newt Gingrich feels that Smith is the person to run such a campaign. He sent an e-mail to his Arkansas supporters in which he wrote, "Princella needs your help to make sure she can effectively carry the message of free-market ideas, energy independence and conservative ideals to the voters of the large First District."

An Arkansas-centered blog, tolbertreport.com, says that Smith told him that she expects Gingrich to help with fundraising and phone calls, with a visit possible if the former Speaker's schedule permits.

(Former Arkansas governor and possible 2012 contender Mike Huckabee has endorsed Rick Crawford.)

2012 polls

It needs to be said at the beginning that relying on polls two years before the Iowa caucuses is not the best thing to do. However, they do serve some purpose, and as such, a quick overview can reveal some things.One of the knocks against running Gingrich is his divisiveness. While that was true when he stepped down as Speaker of the House, he has done a very good job in recent years of rehabbing his image. Some of those events -- when he met with Hillary Clinton over health information technology, Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry on the climate, and most recently, Al Sharpton and President Obama on education -- have drawn ire from many conservatives.Their criticism has been largely silly, acting as if Gingrich has advocated for large-scale surrender of principles. All is he has done is tried to open a dialogue -- and he is confident his ideas will beat out those of the liberals he has met with. It was a message he spoke forcefully at CPAC.

Combined with that, as well as his focus on actual ideas and solutions, his popularity has been rising. In fact, in a June 2009 poll -- the last such poll I can find -- his popularity number with independents is split 37-38%. Being able to hold his own with that bloc is vital, of course, to any chance of victory. And chances are, when exposed to more of Newt's ideas, the 29% undecided will break more for him, handing him a win among unaffilated voters.

One of the interesting things the poll shows is that those under 30 are much more undecided than those above that age. Of course, much of that is because the older crowd remembers his days as Speaker, when he was target number one of the Clinton White House and liberal groups. The more people focus on the issues and reality, not the media spin and half-truths, the better it is for Newt.

Gingrich's standing in polls against President Obama have been improving, better than than the other top Republican contenders. A Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic firm, survey from April 2009 showed Obama winning, 52-39%. But just two months later, the lead was down to 49-41% and Newt's numbers were better than Mike Huckabee (50-43) or Sarah Palin (52-40) and very close to Mitt Romney (48-40).

The next poll that pitted Obama and Gingrich was one from Clarus. It had Obama winning 48-36, right in the middle of the pack of GOP candidates. Romney did much better than every other Republican in the poll, trailing just by four points. Of course, that could be an outlier, or just an obvious result of having spent all of 2007 and two months in 2008 running for President already. His name identification is high.

President of Clarus Ron Faucheux said, "Gingrich improved his standing since the August poll when he was trailing Obama by 18 points. He's narrowed the gap to 12 points. Relative to Obama, Huckabee and Palin experienced only minimal improvement since August."

That is a pretty obvious sign that Gingrich is doing something that Huckabee and Palin are failing at. When combined with the results of Frank Luntz's focus groups that showed people warmed very much to Gingrich after actually his policy proposals, it would seem to suggest that over the course of a months-long campaign, Newt would only rise in the polls, while others would stagnate or fall.

Clarus also confirmed the findings of many polls that the former Speaker is at the top of the list of Republican spokesman, trailing only 2008 GOP Presidential nominee John McCain and the man who was second to McCain when he dropped out, Romney, among Republican voters. A Gallup poll from May 2009, for example, found Gingrich tied with Rush Limbaugh for first.