Gingrich adopted the "nice" strategy not out of compassion for his party, but because of his lack of funds to attack back. Fill his coffers with some dough, and I think we'll see the old Newt appear.
On Dec 23, 9:57 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Gingrich and his ‘nice’ strategy are under fire from attack ads in IowaBy Amy > Gardner, Published: December 22 > KNOXVILLE, Iowa The unorthodoxy of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign will > either make or break him, and it will happen in Iowa, where he is bleeding > support under a hail of harsh TV advertising from opponents and their allies. > Gingrich’s answer to the barrage has been to try to stay “nice.” It’s a > strategy that not only defies the former House speaker’s instinct for combat > but also is producing uncertain results as it is pitted against the proven > effectiveness of negative ads particularly the millions of dollars’ worth > that are piping through Iowa televisions in these final two weeks before the > Jan. 3 caucuses. > Staying positive is not the only way in which Gingrich is following an > unconventional script. Until this month, Gingrich’s campaign staff featured > virtually no one who had worked on a presidential campaign. > The candidate expresses his disdain for paid consultants every chance he > gets. He celebrates the young man from Topeka who runs the candidate’s > Twitter feeds from the counter of his father’s auto-repair shop and the > social-media executive from California who moonlights in charge of Gingrich’s > Facebook page. > Most of all, Gingrich relies on his own instinct, an almost religious faith > that even without a traditional campaign operation his knowledge, experience > and way with words will carry the day. > The danger for him is taking it too far.‘I need your help’Gingrich’s resolve > to fight the Iowa advertising onslaught by staying positive puts that > confidence on vivid display even as it displays the risks. The approach > dominated his appearances during a three-day swing through Iowa this week and > steered him away from his message of bringing years of conservative > leadership to the tasks of fixing the economy and Washington. > “I want to do this based on positive ideas, not on negative campaigning, and > I need your help to make that work,” Gingrich told a crowd of about 100 > supporters at the Swamp Fox Pub here this week. “If somebody wanted to create > ‘Iowans for a Positive Campaign,’ I think the number of people who would join > it overnight would be amazing.” > The displays have made his aides increasingly nervous and prompted some to > urge him to get back on script. But Gingrich is doing what he thinks he has > to do to survive. His campaign shot to the top of the polls last month after > spending much of the year at the back of the pack. He and an independent > committee supporting him are playing catch-up to build the organization and > raise the money they need to stand up to the assault. Meanwhile,a series of > public pollsshow Gingrich’s position slipping in the midst of the barrage of > ads. > The attacks have flooded the airwaves in ads paid for by the campaigns of > Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), as well as an independent > super PAC supporting former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Among the > topics: Gingrich’s acceptance of $1.6 million in payment from federally > backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac; his support for taxpayer funding of “some > abortions”; and the ethics investigation of him when he was speaker about his > use of tax-exempt funds for a partisan educational program. > Gingrich has pushed back hard against the charges, which he says are untrue. > After a town hall at a heavy-equipment plant in Ottumwa this week, he held a > lengthy news conference in which he called upon his chief rival, Romney, to > publicly repudiate the ads being aired by “Restore Our Future,” an > independent committee run by Romney’s supporters. Romney has declined to do > so, arguing that the law prohibits him from communicating with the > independent group.Gingrich fights backA few times, Gingrich’s resolve to stay > positive has crumbled. > In New Hampshire last week, he lashed back at Romney’s call for him to return > his pay from Freddie Mac by describing the “millions” Romney earned > “bankrupting companies” and laying off workers while a businessman at Bain > Capital. This week in Iowa, Gingrich called Romney “purely dishonest” for > saying that he couldn’t stop the independent PAC from running negative ads > against him. > Gingrich seemed to revel in the chance to scuffle verbally with Romney. He > added flourishes to his argument with each successive campaign stop, as if > resorting to a familiar set of behaviors and offering a potentially damaging > reminder to voters of his long history as a combative and partisan House > speaker. > Gingrich could be doomed no matter what he does; modern American political > history reveals that negative ads work, and whether the response is positive > or negative, it’s difficult if not impossible to compete with the volume of > attacks coming down on Gingrich. > “Negative still works pretty well,” said Democratic consultant Joe Trippi, > who watched his client in 2004, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, succumb > to a similar barrage in Iowa after taking the lead in the race. “You can’t > fight it. It’s not enough to push back whether it’s all positive or calling > them all liars [Gingrich] doesn’t have enough up to push against > it.”Emotional appeal to votersTrippi offered one caveat, however, which is > that Gingrich’s long-standing relationship with voters could inoculate him > against some of the charges. Additionally, Gingrich is making an emotional > appeal that could work in Iowa, where a heavily evangelical Republican > electorate may be open to his request for forgiveness regarding some of the > “baggage” that his opponents are pointing out in detail. > “Every Sunday, I preach that we’re all born into sin,” said Jim Stogdill, > pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Johnston, Iowa, outside Des Moines. > “That makes us all equal. So if that’s the case, and we’re going to apply > that to this race, then why is this such a big deal? Either they don’t > understand forgiveness or they’re not Christian. It’s interesting that > Christians who believe in Christ don’t apply that to the people in their > everyday lives.” > Stogdill had just listened to J.C. Watts, the former Oklahoma congressman and > perhaps most prominent Gingrich supporter, defend his friend over breakfast > with a group of pastors. Watts spent two days in Iowa this week meeting with > business leaders and pastors and not only making the case that some of the > charges are false but also appealing to his audience’s Christian faith in > forgiving Gingrich for having made mistakes. > “When people make mistakes you shouldn’t run from them, you run to them,” > Watts said. “That’s more the ministry part of me. We tend to kind of seclude > ourselves from people that need our help the most, when they’re in the most > trouble. And Newt and I, I haven’t always agreed with him, but I never > disliked him. We always remained friends.” > Watts added that Gingrich’s opponents Romney, Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann > (Minn.), for instance aren’t perfect either. “I could show you flaws in all > of them,” he said. > Gingrich is using the “nice” card in other ways. He has pushed his wife, > Callista, to play amore active role on the campaign trail, where she has > opened up more about her love for music and her Midwestern roots. (She grew > up in Wisconsin and attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.) The Gingriches > also appear in an adtogether, in which the candidate prays for “peace and > brotherhood.” Already playing on the Internet, the ad will air on TV stations > across Iowa on Friday. > Staff writer Karen Tumulty in Washington contributed to this > report.http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2011/12/22/gIQACVsUCP_story.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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