What did they tweet about Newt tonight?

Jedediah Bila, conservative columnist:

@newtgingrich takes on Bernanke right from the start. Well done.

Bila again:

Have never heard @NewtGingrich struggle to answer a question. Not once.

Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters.org:

.@NewtGingrich slams it out of the park with his first answer. Very solid start.

Guy Benson, Townhall.com Political Editor and radio host:

Newt rips media and #OWS as ignorant on history. Audience goes wild.

Dana Loesch, talk radio host and co-founder of St. Louis Tea Party:

Gingrich is owning the 99% - 1% question. "Was Gates when he started in the 99 or 1%" #CNBCdebate

Ralph Reed:

Newt surge is now official.

Jim Acosta, CNN Political Correspondent:

Conservative twitter-verse loving Gingrich, again.

Matthew Jakubowski:

Very impressed by @newtgingrich at the #cnbcdebate-- I love his #commonsense and experience balancing budgets and work as Speaker

Craig Robinson of TheIowaRepublican.com

Round One goes to Newt Gingrich #CNBCDebate #tcot #iacaucus

Tory Dunnan of CNN:

@Newt2012HQ Newt seems to be a crowd pleaser tonight. #cnbcdebate #gop

Tim Albrecht, communications director for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad:

Gingrich is right. Dodd-Frank severely hurting our Iowa small-town banks. #CNBCDebate

Phil Kerpen, Vice President of Americans for Prosperity:

Newt crushed the health care lightning round after correctly mocking it. Kudos.

Dennis Ross, U.S. Congressman (FL-12):

@Newt2012HQ is 100% right about Social Security.

Oakland University Republicans (the debate was live from their campus):

We are really liking @newtgingrich tonight! #CNBCdebate #debateOU @Newt2012HQ

Tim Alberta of National Journal:

Gingrich was certainly prepared for that answer on ballooning student loan debt. Very well received.

Rockingham County (New Hampshire) Republicans:

#newt2012HQ Head and Shoulders above the field tonight.

Ed Morrissey, writer for hotair.com, columnist, and talk radio host:

So far, heading into the home stretch, I think Newt is winning this debate by a good margin. Romney good, Paul doing very well #cnbcupdate

Dana Loesch:

Gingrich won that one, folks. #CNBCdebate

Jeff Emanuel, contributor to RedState.com:

I declare Newt tonight's winner. The end.

More positive comments about @Newt2012HQ's Twitter account

A couple of weeks ago, I quoted Chris Guzman:

As I was tweeting out the Speaker’s remarks in 140 character increments or less, the official Twitter account for his election campaign picked up on my tweets to retweet them to their online audience (see screenshot above). In addition to retweeting me throughout the night, the campaign involved others tweeting about the event by retweeting them as well.

His online strategists clearly understand what it means to have a people-powered online campaign. After all, retweeting his supporters is not only earned media for Mr. Gingrich, but it also demonstrates that the campaign trusts his supporters. That. is. MONEY!

I appreciate Speaker’s emphasis on utilizing direct media (a.k.a. new media) throughout his campaign from the very start. He announced via Twitter and Facebook that he would be joining the 2012 campaign.

Over the weekend, two more people weighed in on how Newt's campaign is using Twitter.

Daniel Bostic:

@Newt2012HQ = GREAT example of how a #presidential campaign twitter account should b run. #interaction is the key. #tcot

Elyssa Giordano, student at Marymount University:

@Newt2012HQ...honestly, you guys do an excellent job with the twitter! Keep it up!

A great piece about Newt's campaign's social media strategy

(Another post I had to keep pushing back with all the news.)

Last week, Newt held a Team 10 Townhall in Pasadena, California (which I had a post about here). During the event, Chris Guzman (@christopherguz on Twitter), who was attending, started to tweet quotes of Newt. Newt 2012's Campaign account, @Newt2012HQ, started re-tweeting Chris.

Chris wrote a post about it. Go read the whole thing please, but here is an excerpt:

As I was tweeting out the Speaker’s remarks in 140 character increments or less, the official Twitter account for his election campaign picked up on my tweets to retweet them to their online audience (see screenshot above). In addition to retweeting me throughout the night, the campaign involved others tweeting about the event by retweeting them as well.

His online strategists clearly understand what it means to have a people-powered online campaign. After all, retweeting his supporters is not only earned media for Mr. Gingrich, but it also demonstrates that the campaign trusts his supporters. That. is. MONEY!

I appreciate Speaker’s emphasis on utilizing direct media (a.k.a. new media) throughout his campaign from the very start. He announced via Twitter and Facebook that he would be joining the 2012 campaign.

You can watch the Townhall here.

Reaction to Newt on Twitter during MSNBC debate

Heather Linville, Minnesota College Republicans' State Secretary:

Last quote by @newtgingrich was amazing. Obama IS focusing on class warfare NOT job creation. #ReaganDebate #mncrs

James Balderrama:

@newtgingrich @Newt2012HQ Great answer! This household stood up and cheered!

@mariadeschamp:

@Newt2012HQ @newtgingrich we are cheering here in #Minnesota. Keep telling them how it is

Dana Loesch:

THANK YOU NEWT. "We are all for defeating Obama." #reagandebate

Laura Ingraham:

Gingrich the best so far. Total FACE on the media!

Bill Hemmer:

Gingrich recognizes The Reagan Rule and receives biggest applause of evening at the 28 minute mark. #reagandebate

Hemmer again:

Gingrich strong response on energy and harvesting Alaska. Crowd suddenly wakes up again. #reagandebate

Teri Christoph, Co-Founder of Smart Girl Politics:

The ladies on the #SGP chat admire Newt for being a team player. #reagandebate

Christoph again:

Newt and school choice is a big winner on #SGP chat. #reagandebate

David Martosko, editor of The Daily Caller.

Newt goes Presidential by playing as a team. Classy. Reaganesque.

Jason Whitman, State Chairman of Wyoming Young Republicans and National Policy Chairman of Young Republican National Federation:

I am going to say now that when it comes to debating @newtgingrich basically owns. #ReaganDebate

Whitman again:

I always enjoy watching @newtgingrich in a debate. He has a vast reservoir of knowledge and that's a fact. #ReaganDebate

Alex Wagner, reporter for The Huffington Post:

Big applause for Gingrich calling for English to be official language of the US.

Ken Gardner:

Newt has perfomed VERY well tonight. Refuses to equate raising revenues with raising taxes. Talking about drilling more oil in Alaska.

Christine Delargy, CBS News Reporter:

Audience seems to really like Newt Gingrich... don't think there's anything he's said tonight that didn't get some applause #reagandebate

Jedediah Bila, author and columnist:

Gingrich offers specific solutions. That is his strength: specifics. Always is.

Chris Ryan, WKXL (New Hampshire) reporter:

Great answer there from @newtgingrich , one of the top applause lines of the night on cutting spending

Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters.org:

I know this will anger @NewtGingrich haters but he comes across as the most informed & knowledgeable candidate by far.

Another quote by Tony Lee of Human Events about Newt

Lee put out an article previewing Wednesday's GOP debate at the Reagan Library. He had this to say about Newt:

His summer was turbulent, but he is not that much worse off than he was when it started. Gingrich won the last debate and he performed the best out of all the candidates at the Palmetto Freedom Forum in South Carolina. He’s proposing ideas on getting rid of regulations such as Dodd-Frank and using social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Google+, effectively. He speaks of American exceptionalism in a way that resonates. Gingrich has a chance to keep the momentum going at a debate held at the library of a President (Reagan) he not only worked with, but whose life and ideas he has so richly chronicled.

Which candidate has Tweeted the most about jobs this year?

Newt. You're not surprised, are you?

From @140elect:

Who has tweeted most about "jobs"?
@newtgingrich sent 47 tweets in 2011.
#2 @mittromney with 21.
#3 @thehermancain-13.
#4 @governorperry-10

Two pieces from Human Events: one by Newt and one about Newt

Newt put out his weekly newsletter today, and the topic was United Nations funding. Newt writes:

Only at the United Nations is it possible to imagine a Palestinian state announced on a meeting agenda.

U.N. corruption was on full display last week when, as the Hudson Institute’s Anne Bayefsky​ noted, the U.N. published its provisional list of speakers for the September opening session.

It listed the speaker from “Palestine” as the “Head of State” for the first time ever.

This is just a preview of a diplomatic crisis and an existential threat to the state of Israel that is shaping up for September.

The Palestinian Authority is promising to ram ahead with its bid in just over a month to be recognized as a state at the United Nations, and the General Assembly will likely approve it over the objections of the United States and Israel.

This will define a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, stretching to the 1967 borders and encompassing territory that currently is home to thousands of Israelis.

It is a dangerous plan.

It would violate every standing agreement the Palestinians have with Israel, including the Oslo Accords, to negotiate a final border agreement.

U.N. recognition would take place totally apart from any negotiation with Israel, and without the Palestinians renouncing violence or acknowledging Israel's statehood.

...

In spite of the U.N.’s totally dishonest approach to Israel, President Obama apparently retains faith in what is clearly a corrupt organization. The Administration’s commitment to “multilateralism” at the U.N. is nothing more than appeasement.

President Obama and the State Department must be clear with Western allies. They should reject action that would reward terrorist groups who refuse to abide by the basic principles of human dignity and freedom.

...

The United States has the leverage to prevent this diplomatic disaster if the Obama Administration wants to use it: we are by far the largest donor to the U.N., financing roughly a quarter of its entire budget.

We should be willing to say that if the U.N. is going to circumvent negotiations and declare the territory of one of its own members an independent state, we aren’t going to pay for it. We can keep our $7.6 billion a year.

We don’t need to fund a corrupt institution to beat up on our allies.

That is exactly how President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker handled a similar drive to force Palestinian statehood in 1989.

...

That is the resolve we need to show today. Washington should make clear immediately that it will not accept dangerous stunts that threaten Israel’s survival.

When the U.N. is set to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state and Israel is the only country in the world not even permitted to determine its own capital, something is very wrong.

The time to stop this disaster is before it happens. The time for Congress and President Obama to set out the cost of a United Nations betrayal of Israel is before the General Assembly meets.

Here is the link to the full newsletter again.

Also appearing on HumanEvents.com today was an article by Tony Lee, who is helping cover the GOP Presidential Primary for the conservative publication.

Some excerpts:

"We had a group of paid professionals who had not worked for me before," Gingrich said. "If I were to do it over again, I would not have hired the paid professionals."

When the consultants left, Gingrich had to reboot his strategy, and said he would finally run the campaign he had always wanted.

Gingrich rattled off what seemed like an idea a second, which included repealing the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley Acts that he says are discouraging investors. He called President Obama​ an "anti-American energy" President. He called for a modernized Food and Drug Administration that can help create jobs. He spoke of Executive Orders he would sign on his first day in office and ways to make the legislative process in Congress more open and transparent to gain back the trust of the American people. He cited his time in Congress, when he believes he was responsible for balancing the budget and helping end welfare programs and begin the modernization of some previously untouchable entitlement programs.

Gingrich said he's building a "substantive, solutions-oriented" campaign with positive ads and speeches. He also said he'll be upbeat at the debates and hinted he would not cut down his competitors.

"My debates will be positive," Gingrich said. "Not so much about Obama and maybe not about the news media, but I will be [positive] about the other candidates."

In the pre-social media days of campaigning, Gingrich probably would have had no chance of reviving his campaign.

But with the proliferation of social media that makes access to information cheaper while proliferating it at a rapid clip, a candidate can gain momentum as fast as he can lose it.

With a lean budget, Gingrich will rely ever more on social media to put himself into the conversation.

For instance, his campaign to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill cost the campaign nothing because it took them three hours to set it up on Facebook. The same is true for video and telephone conferencing services.

And today, Gingrich rolled out a “Team 10” initiative, which is “about reasserting this basic principle, and creating smaller government by working together and being bigger citizens” and reminding Americans that the country “is exceptional because we believe sovereignty begins with the individual” and “we loan power to the government, not the other way around.”

According to a press release, Tea Party and 912 Project leaders will lead Team 10, and through a Facebook app, they will solicit ideas on how to limit Washington’s overreach and enforce the 10th Amendment.

In addition, according to the release, “through voting, online and in-person events, and talking with each other, the best of these ideas will eventually become a ‘10th Amendment Enforcement Act,’ and “as the Republican nominee, Gingrich would include” it as part of a new Contract with America.

These initiatives that integrate social media with politics and policy put Gingrich ahead of the curve, which is why he scoffed at unsubstantiated rumors that many of his Twitter followers (Gingrich was ahead of the curve in successfully adopting the medium) were artificial.

“Folks who want to criticize me about using technology should come on [Google +] with me and create a hangout,” Gingrich said, insisting that unfounded rumors that a majority of his Twitter followers were artificially generated were “baloney.”

Gingrich also noted that he is proud that he has called for the Republican Party to be a more inclusive to minorities and noted the diversity of his audience at a recent Iowa campaign event.

“We did an event in Des Moines last Thursday night, and we had over 20 Chinese-American students,” Gingrich said, noting such diversity is sometimes lacking in Republican audiences.

Gingrich feels confident enough in his ideas that he still sees a viable path to the nomination.

“As the economy gets worse and the world gets more dangerous, people will look up and say, ‘Who could debate Obama successfully next October and who could actually govern effectively if they were elected?” Gingrich said. “And that will steadily lead to an increase in support.”

As proof, Gingrich cited a recent Johnson County event in Iowa in which, according to him, “Every reporter who was there said the room changed decisively when I was there, and the people walked out saying ‘He’s the guy [to beat Obama].’ ”

The coverage of Gingrich’s event in Johnson County backs up Gingrich’s claim. Reporters from outlets across the spectrum noted that, among the four presidential candidates who were present at the event, Gingrich received the longest standing ovation and generated the most buzz.

Here is the full article link again.

A News Station in the UK quoted me

From Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom:

But Josh Gosser who set up the Team Gingrich blog thinks the opposite. He explained why he thinks Gingrich is so big on Twitter.

He told Channel 4 News: "He doesn't just use it as a way to get out press releases; he says things in a way that fits the platform of Twitter very well.

"Newt will actually reply to people on Twitter, which is very unusual for someone running for any office, let alone president."

Someone from the station e-mailed me last week, and that was my reply.

Here were my full answers:

1. I think he has a large following for the reasons Politico gave in this article. He doesn't just use it as a way to get out press releases; he says things in a way that fits the platform of Twitter very well. Tony Lee of Human Events also noted on Twitter the other day that Newt was ahead of the game on most every other politician when it came to Twitter. To quote him: Newt "was one of the 20 everyone followed when 1st signing up. Even DC chefs got on Twitter bc of Newt." I will also say that Newt will actually reply to people on Twitter, which is very unusual for someone running for any office, let alone President.

2. Twitter is important because many people feel that the traditional media leaves them out of the conversation.As with Facebook, it gives those people a voice as well as allowing campaigns to cut through all the clutter and communicate to their supporters easier.

Human Events reviews the first Twitter Debate

My apologies for not seeing this before today, but Tony Lee of Human Events had a very interesting take on the Twitter debate that took place almost two weeks ago:

While only Michele Bachmann​, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson, Herman Cain​, Thad McCotter​, and Rick Santorum​ participated, Gingrich showed his savvy in answering questions in 140 characters while also utilizing the medium to his advantage, something which has been a trademark of the former Speaker of the House.

For instance, at one point in the Twitter debate, @secupp asked the debate participants, "As Pres, if you could enact any policy to fix the economy w/o congressional approval what would it be? Be specific"

While the other candidates responded by tweeting they would repeal ObamaCare or eliminate agencies, @NewtGingrich was savvy enough to reply first by tweeting that "I wouldn’t even if I could b/c congressional passage offers legitimacy of the consent of the governed to the law."

Gingrich then tweeted "Big impact can be made with executive orders though. I would stop EPA from regulating carbon & abolish all White House Czars"

By acknowledging the importance and legitimacy of Congress, Gingrich, in a savvy way, put him on the side of limited government conservatives who worry about any branch overreaching their constitutional authority. It

Then after the debate had wrapped up, Gingrich tweeted his followers to join him on the new social media site, Google +, which is a hybrid between Facebook and Twitter, for another discussion.

And at the very beginning of the debate, Gingrich used the one external link that each participant was allowed to link to an introduction video he specifically made for the event.

Can you guess which word Newt most often uses on Twitter?

Human Events had an interesting article today about how the 2012 Republican Presidential candidates are using Twitter. They linked to a sort of word cloud using what each person tweets.

Here is Newt's.

Surprised what the most commonly used word is? Me either.

The best of Newt's GOP Twitter Debate

His opening statement via video:



Now onto the best tweets:

When you balance the budget there is no need to raise the debt ceiling. I am the only candidate who has balanced the budget. @140townhall

Balance budget again by growing economy, cutting spending and reforming govt. That’s how we did it before. We CAN do it again. @140townhall

We spend less on defense today as % of GDP than at any time since Pearl Harbor @140townhall

Controlling the border and defending America are job 1 under the Constitution. @140townhall

A three-parter:

My Jobs and Prosperity Plan: No tax increase, 100% expensing, reduce business tax to 12.5%, eliminate cap gains & death tax @140townhall

(cont.) Audit & reform Fed Reserve; repeal Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes Oxley, Comm Reinvestment Act; break up Freddie and Fannie @140townhall

(cont.) Repeal & replace Obamacare and fully develop American energy. These would all create jobs by REDUCING govt. @140townhall

Thanks again @140townhall. Earlier I asked you to be “with me,” not “for me” b/c the presidency alone cannot solve America’s challenges.

Returning America back to job creation, balanced budgets & limited govt will be a team effort. Join that team at Newt.org. @140townhall

You can view his Twitter feed here.

And Newt.org.

Newt later did another Google+ hangout -- his first can be seen here -- for those whose questions were not answered on Twitter.

When that video becomes available, I will post it.

P.S. I ask everyone who reads this to take a moment to sign up for the daily e-mail from this blog. It contains all the posts from the previous day, and is a more convenient way of keeping up with the news around Newt 2012.

Also, and I already linked to it, but please visit Newt.org. Every day. Three times.

Thanks for reading.

Twitter Debate and radio interview

Newt will be in the Twitter GOP debate starting at 3 PM ET. You can follow it at 140townhall.com.

Immediately after, Newt will be on Rusty Humphries' radio show. Humphries, who will help moderate the event, has a website you can listen to the interview on.

Back in April, Newt was a part of a Tax Day Tea Party Townhall with several major Tea Party groups participated in it. Humphries moderated the event.

Newt has the strongest response to the McConnell plan among 2012 candidates

Mitch McConnell today floated an idea to solve the debt ceiling problem that would essentially raise the ceiling without any real reforms or cuts.

So far, among Presidential candidates, Newt has come out strongest against it, tweeeting soon after the proposal was released: "McConnell's plan is an irresponsible surrender to big government, big deficits and continued overspending. I oppose it." Following up on that, he wrote, "The answer to Obama's irresponsibility is a principled "no," not a blank check.

Other candidates have either been silent or muted in their response.

Newt to be in Charleston again on Wednesday; submit questions for tomorrow night

"According to the campaign, Gingrich will also be speaking at an electric cooperative event at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Charleston Place Hotel at 205 Meeting St," Greg Hambrick writes.

Also, for those who use Twitter, you can submit questions for Newt's townhall tomorrow night in Charleston using the hashtag #asknewt.

Newt had a conference call "with 12,000 of his closest friends" yesterday

Newt's finance director, Christie Hall, tweeted yesterday: "Staffing Newt on a conference call with 12,000 of his closest friends. Amazing Q & A session!"

Another note on Twitter: Newt's Georgia volunteer coordinator, Jacob Hawkins, shared this tidbit today: "2012 Candidates Twitter followers: Newt 1.3 Million, Bachmann 57k, Paul 57k, Romney 56k, Cain 46k, Pawlenty 42k, Santorum 11k."

New page: Newt's team on Twitter

I have added a new page.

Newt's team on Twitter. You can "follow" the list after clicking on the link.