Order 50 flyers of The 21st Century Contract with America

Link on Newt.org.

"Looks like Mississippi might be the long awaited state where Newt has the lead"

So says Public Policy Polling as their weekend polling started. It will be interesting to see if the lead holds.

Iowa poll: Newt in a statistical tie with Romney for second; pollster expects Cain to fall

The poll finds Cain at 30%, Romney with 15%, and Newt at 12%. But -- in addition to the usual disclaimer that a minority of voters have are firmly in any candidate's camp -- the pollster, Matt Towery, found an interesting fact:

“We found most Republican voters in Iowa were unaware of the latest developments in the Cain case,” Towery said after Thursday night’s poll. “There is a great likelihood that his vote will fall off.”

...

“We have to remember that most Americans don’t read political newspapers or websites and these things take quite a while to trickle down.”

[Towery] said the importance of the Des Moines Register in Iowa cannot be overstated and that paper has not run the scandal heavily.

And remember -- Newt and Cain will be debating one-on-one Saturday, 8 PM EST. C-SPAN TV and C-SPAN.org will have it live.

"In a dozen interviews, the score was Gingrich 12, the rest of the field 0."

So says Byron York in his recap of the Iowa GOP Reagan dinner from Friday night.

(You can watch the video of the speech here.)



York quotes from five of those interviews:

"It was Newt," said Chad Kleppe of Waukee, Iowa. "I think he's the smartest one in the field."

"Gingrich knocked it out of the park," said Earlene Nordstrom of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

"Newt," said Tim Heldt of Johnston. "The energy in the room picked up. It didn't feel like a stump speech."

"He is so good," said Becky Ervin of Urbandale. "I want to see a debate between him and Obama."

"I would have to say Newt Gingrich might have convinced me to caucus for him," said Eric Johansen of Grimes. "I've been undecided up to this point."

As has been the case several other times in Iowa -- most notably this past Tuesday and the Faith & Freedom event a few weeks ago -- Newt got the best applause from the crowd.

York concluded by writing:

If any frontrunners fade -- and given recent experience, that seems likely to happen -- Gingrich seems poised to make real progress toward a place in the top tier.

Politico, in saying Newt got the best reaction "by far," writes:

Before Gingrich, most got polite applause but no loud cheers or standing ovations at the Ronald Reagan Dinner — one of the top events on the local political calendar. From Sen. Chuck Grassley to town mayors, almost every elected Republican official in the state attended, including many of the 99 county chairs whose opinions are respected back home.

They also write:

But, after the event ended, a relatively small number approached to talk [to Santorum] while Gingrich was swarmed by more than 100 well-wishers who wanted a picture with him and his wife Callista.

“A lot of people are probably giving him a second look,” said Steve Scheffler, one of the state’s prominent social conservatives and the state’s Republican National Committeeman, who has not endorsed.

Among them was Mike McInerney, a 21-year-old senior at Drake University who approached Gingrich to ask after the speech to ask how he can help his campaign

The New York-Times:

A crowd gathered around Mr. Gingrich after the speech. Stephen Quist, head of the 800-member college Republicans at Iowa State University, said Mr. Gingrich helped himself “by far the most.”

...

Craig Williams, a member of the state Republican central committee who said he hadn’t endorsed anyone yet, agreed, saying the former speaker “hit a home run tonight.”

Iowa State Reprensative Josh Byrnes, who walked through the Iowa State Fair with the campaign back in August and who has been talking up Newt in recent weeks, tweeted:

Rick Perry during his speech has sought out Speaker Gingrich's approval twice publicly! Why else other than the fact Gingrich has experience

Some details on Newt's campaign in South Carolina

Sources close to Gingrich’s South Carolina campaign tell FITS that several new staff announcements are “imminent” – and may include “prominent members” of other 2012 campaigns.

...

More recently, Gingrich’s South Carolina efforts have been led by Leslie Roper Gaines, an Upstate, S.C. activist (and former Mitt Romney supporter) best known for her fundraising prowess.

The story was later updated:

UPDATE: Looks like one of the operatives Gingrich is hiring is Delinda Ridings, who has been serving as Midlands Field Director for the campaign of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

UPDATE II: Statement from Hunstman’s state director Joel Sawyer: “As part of our campaign’s continued restructuring and refocusing of our resources, DeLinda was let go from her position earlier today. We wish her the best.”

Newt at 12% in new ABC-WaPo national poll; 3 of every 4 donors has been new

Good for third again.

The people giving Newt 2012 money this last month or so are new to the campaign:

The Gingrich campaign raised more than $1 million in October, its best fundraising month.

“We’re seeing steady growth and that’s important,” Hammond said. “We’ve got a growing base and we’re seeing three out of every four donors coming in is a new a person.”

More from ABC:

One interesting note about those polled: When asked about changing their mind on a candidate, 45 percent said there is a good chance they’ll do so.

“Our goal is to make sure that the time for voters to latch onto Newt as their candidate will be when it’s time to vote and caucus,” Hammond said. “As long as we’re seeing steady progress, that means we’re on track, we’re not looking to have everyone on board by a certain date.”

Another hire in New Hampshire

From John DiStaso:

Gingrich's growing New Hampshire team will announce that former Tim Pawlenty staffer Erin Lamontagne (niece of 2012 candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne) has joined Gingrich to help with social media, recruit volunteers and organize coalitions.

Gingrich will return to New Hampshire on Veterans Day.

Ovide Lamontagne's endorsement is very sought-after, and Newt spoke at a event of his earlier this year, but I don't know if this news means if he is leaning one way or the other.

Newt 2012 will have five Iowa offices -- "and soon"

Link to story:

Today, though, Hammond told Patch that Gingrich will not open just one office, but five of them around Iowa — and soon.

"There are plans for it to happen," Hammond said in a phone interview. "We're in the final stages of interviewing staff."

Gingrich may be sensing a bit of momentum in Iowa from recent events. Last month, speaking at a gathering of evangelicals along with all the major candidates except Mitt Romney, Gingrich's performance was roundly seen as the best of the bunch.

And earlier this week, Patch reported that 32 percent of Iowa respondents in the Patch-Huffington Post survey of influential Republicans said there is a good chance they will endorse the former Speaker of the House.

That's huge news, and it's thanks to the influx of money coming into the campaign.

A few pictures and a recap of Newt's speech in Georgia from Wednesday

(For those reading this in the morning e-mail, you'll have to click on the post to see the pictures as the links may not work.)

Link.

The first two were taken by Jacob Hawkins of Newt's campaign. Bryan Jacoutot, a big supporter, took the last one, and also wrote a recap of the event.

Please read the whole thing here, but I'll quote a little from it:

The Former Speaker of the House was introduced to a thunderous standing ovation by a capacity crowd in the Marriott Ballroom, and immediately began outlining his 21st Century Contract With America. He spoke for roughly an hour and highlighted among other things, his “First Day Executive Orders,” his legislative proposals, the consolidation and modernization of the federal government through the application of Lean Six Sigma, as well as his plans to curb rising health care costs by expanding research in the field of brain science.

After listing a couple of the executive orders Newt has planned for inauguration day, including the removal of every White House Czar, he joked that “by the time President Obama has landed in Chicago, we will have abolished 40% of his government.”

Newt at 14% in new national poll from Rasmussen

Good for third place.

"Romney is also essentially even with Gingrich in a two-way race," says the report.