(Update: Schoenfeld will now be the senior adviser and Koberg his deputy.
"More paid staff announcements are pending as well as the opening of seven campaign offices statewide," writes NBC.)
Newt re-added two Iowa staffers today: Craig Schoenfeld, who had served as executive director of the Iowa team, and Katie Koberg, who was deputy director.
Koberg is an exceptional hire for Gingrich. With so many of Iowa’s political operatives now working in state government since the state has a Republican governor for the first time in over a decade, there are not that many operatives with a resume like Koberg’s out there for presidential candidates to choose from.
Over a span of almost six years, Koberg has developed contacts and relationships with legislative candidates across the state through here work at Iowans for Tax Relief. Those relationships, and her knowledge of the political landscape across the state, will be an asset for the Gingrich campaign.
Schoenfeld is a long-time veteran of local and statewide Iowa political campaigns. In 2004, he ran the Iowa Victory effort for President Bush, in addition to working on President Bush’s successful caucus effort in 2000.
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Schoenfeld provides Gingrich with an understanding of how Iowa caucus campaigns operate.
So writes Natalie Ginty, a senior Biochemistry major at the University of Iowa and Chairwoman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans.
We have seen the consequences of electing politicians who lack experience and leadership. To return America back to prosperity, we need a leader with experience implementing bold solutions. We need a leader who has shown that they know how to get America working again. That leader is Newt Gingrich.
Unlike the current administration, Newt is not blind to the difficulties facing our nation in this perilous time. The 21st Centruty Contract with America shows a deep understanding of the scale and scope of the problems facing America today. Under Gingrich’s leadership as Speaker, Congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation. In four years, Gingrich oversaw the creation of a stable economic environment that created 11 million jobs, while reforming welfare programs, restoring funding to strengthen our defense capabilities, expanding NIH research programs, and repaying over $400 billion in federal debt.
Putting Americans back to work needs to be the administration’s highest priority. While our current administration disagrees, a Gingrich administration will ensure that America’s focus on job creation never waivers. Instead of baseless rhetoric and empty promises, Newt has practical and innovative ideas to solve some of our toughest problems. Nothing will help our deficit or protect our future more soundly than transitioning Americans from a government-dependent economy, to an independently productive economy.
Gingrich will soon introduce his highly anticipated platform on developing brain science at the University of Iowa. His plan is the boldest plan of any Presidential candidate, focusing on common diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, Autism, and others has the potential to save our federal government trillions of dollars in Medicare funding in the future. This innovative proposal will provide a great export to the rest of the world, and will create the type of jobs that Americans need more than ever.
Do your country a favor – don’t be fooled by a 20 second sound bite. We must be the ones to change the conversation and demand substance. I beg of you to use your responsibility as an Iowan voter wisely and diligently do your research. Look over all the candidates’ websites and watch all the debates. Make up your own mind on who you want to support, but in making this decision, consider who has the experience, record and ideas to lead our nation back from the brink. America needs a brilliant leader through these trying times.
Time Magazine may have said it best about their 1995 Man of the Year, “Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable. Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional.” I will be proudly caucusing for Newt Gingrich on January 3rd and I ask that you join me in ensuring that America’s best days still lie ahead.
Newt Gingrich got the most applause from the audience full of business leaders at this morning’s presidential candidates’ forum sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers.
There was enthusiastic clapping when Gingrich said he would educate Congress on how legislation needs to be longer term rather than lasting just a year. Several business executives said later they appreciated Gingrich’s thoughts on how to improve worker training for the jobless. He said the 99 weeks a worker collects unemployment is equal to the time it takes to earn an associate’s degree.
“Of this group, I think Newt Gingrich is the most qualified intellectually to take this country the furthest,” said Al Jennings, chairman and CEO of EFCO Corp. in Des Moines. “But keep in mind that we didn’t hear from all the candidates, and that’s disappointing.”
IowaRepublican.com:
Newt Gingrich: He has shined in all the debates and most forums and this was no different. Prior to the broadcast, the live audience was asked to hold their applause. However, they clapped for Gingrich’s answers three times and laughed a few other times. The former House speaker’s command of the issues, combined with the ability to verbalize that knowledge, is unmatched anywhere in U.S. politics.
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Overall Winner: Newt Gingrich received the best response from the audience, so I give him the slight edge. However, I thought the other four participants handled themselves well.
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."
Of Katie Koberg, who was the Vice President of a Iowan fiscal conservative think tank until recently, Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican said:
Koberg is an exceptional hire for Gingrich. With so many of Iowa’s political operatives now working in state government since the state has a Republican governor for the first time in over a decade, there are not that many operatives with a resume like Koberg’s out there for presidential candidates to choose from.
Over a span of almost six years, Koberg has developed contacts and relationships with legislative candidates across the state through here work at Iowans for Tax Relief. Those relationships, and her knowledge of the political landscape across the state, will be an asset for the Gingrich campaign.
Robinson had the following to say about Iowa House Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Kaufmann:
Gingrich also announced that Rep. Jeff Kaufmann will serve as his senior policy advisor on Iowa related issues such as rural economies, agriculture and energy. Kaufmann is another impressive addition to Gingrich’s Iowa team. Kaufmann has a large following in eastern Iowa and was a huge asset to the campaigns of Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Terry Branstad.
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.
TheIowaRepublican.com has learned that Iowa House Majority Leader, Rep. Linda Upmeyer, has agreed to chair Newt Explore 2012 in Iowa.
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Upmeyer, who is the state’s first female House Majority Leader, gives Gingrich a high profile endorsement that he can tout around the state.
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Gingrich is also adding two political veterans to his Iowa team. Craig Schoenfeld and Will Rogers will be his Iowa points of contact. Schoenfeld is a long-time veteran of local and statewide Iowa political campaigns. In 2004, he ran the Iowa Victory effort for President Bush, in addition to working on President Bush’s successful caucus effort in 2000.
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Will Rogers is a Des Moines native, Army veteran, and Drake University alumnus. For the past 15 years, Rogers has been involved in helping elect Republicans in Iowa beginning with Congressman Greg Ganske’s first campaign. He subsequently served as the Executive Director for the Polk County GOP, worked for Congressman Tom Latham’s campaign in 2004, and served as the Co-Chair of the Polk County GOP during the last election.
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Schoenfeld provides Gingrich with an understanding of how Iowa caucus campaigns operate. Rogers brings a wealth of activists’ contacts with him to the campaign. His extensive work in Polk and Story Counties could pay huge dividends at the Iowa Straw Poll this summer. The two have also worked on the same campaign before. In 2004, they both worked for Ganske’s U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.
Last week I linked to a tweet by Kathie Obradovich that Upmeyer would be joining the campaign in some capacity.
Will Rogers, the former chairman of the Des Moines-area Polk County Republican Party, told CNN that Gingrich is certain to run 'a high level campaign operation here' if he decides to move beyond the exploratory phase.
"My feeling is that he looks like his somebody who is going to run," said Rogers, who has known Gingrich for six years and plans to work for him if he embarks on a full-fledged candidacy. "He is doing the things that people need to do in order to become a frontrunner in the state of Iowa."
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.
Iowa should be a place where Gingrich thrives. On Iowa Press last weekend, he jokingly said, “I’ve been coming to Iowa I think since the early 80s. I may have even come to Iowa before Terry was governor, the first time.” Gingrich went on to say that he’s attended the Iowa State Fair six times.
Gingrich is not exaggerating his fondness for Iowa or the amount of time he’s spent here helping the Republican Party of Iowa raise money and helping candidates like Jim Nussle and others with their campaigns. No candidate will be able to match the time, effort, and interest that Gingrich has given the state. What is yet to be seen is whether or not Iowans consider Gingrich as a presidential option.
Despite all of the time that Gingrich has poured into the state, surprisingly, he has very little infrastructure here in Iowa. He has a big backer in Majority Leader of the Iowa House, Linda Upmeyer, but due to her leadership role, she is unable to help him make inroads around the state.
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Last week, I decided to attend Gingrich’s event where he was showing his film, “Rediscovering God in America,” at the Des Moines Marriott. I chose to attend that event over the Johnson County Spaghetti Supper with Haley Barbour because the 2012 candidates have yet to do many events that they organize themselves, and the movie event would be such an event. Even though Gingrich’s soiree was co-sponsored by Citizens United, it was the first stand alone, non-Republican organization sponsored event that has been held in Iowa since the 2010 election.
I went to the Marriott early on Friday night to meet with Congressman King and his staff the night before the Conservative Principles Conference. By happenstance, I got on an elevator with David Bossie of Citizens United. Bossie partnered with Gingrich to produce a series of films, including the one that was going to be viewed later that night. While I was traveling to the 30th floor, Bossie chatted with his associates about his concerns about the attendance at the viewing later that evening, especially since FOX News and NBC were both going to cover the event.
As I listened in to their conversation, I couldn’t help to start putting together some thoughts for an article. All week I had thought that Gingrich’s Iowa effort was floundering a bit. Despite hitting a homerun at the Iowa Renewable Fuels conference in February, Gingrich struggled to excite the crowd at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Conference. A lackluster event on Friday night and a ho-hum speech in front of King’s conservative audience could have raised questions about whether Iowans would see him as a serious presidential candidate.
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.
Gingrich also did well at King’s event on Saturday morning. It didn’t hurt that instead of following Herman Cain, a dynamic speaker, like he did at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event, he followed Haley Barbour. Barbour was no slouch, but his speech only addressed one of the three tenets of conservatism -- fiscal policy.
Gingrich’s speech focused on the three areas needed to re-center America: family values, the economy, and national security. He spoke about each segment with authority. He scored points with King by backing his idea to defund Obamacare. Gingrich said, “We have to draw the line in the sand this year.” He then encouraged the crowd to encourage the rest of Iowa’s delegation to follow King’s lead.
Another topic that was surely music to King’s ears was when Gingrich cited a Gallup Poll from December that found that 80 percent of Americans think that America is exceptional. Gingrich noted that the 18 percent who disagree that American is an exceptional county are largely made up of our elected officials and members of the media. Gingrich did very well on Saturday with King’s crowd, even though Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain received a greater response during and after their remarks. For what they provided in excitement, Gingrich matched with substance.
Nobody doubts that Gingrich will do well in the debates later this year. The problem he and every other candidate have is that they have to get to those debates. That means Gingrich needs a strong ground game in Iowa so that he can do well at the Iowa Straw Poll in August, the first test of a candidate’s organizational strength. If he is able to meet or exceed expectations there, he could use the numerous debates that follow to propel his campaign to a victory in Iowa and elsewhere.
"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."
