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| More debates? No. Did I mention I don't care about the very rich or poor? |
How do you ensure that Newt Gingrich can't compete and won't see another surge in voter support? Easy - take away his greatest advantage - debates.
CNN canceled its March 1 Republican presidential debate on Thursday after three of four candidates declined to participate, citing busy campaign schedules leading to Super Tuesday on March 6."Mitt Romney and Ron Paul told the Georgia Republican Party, Ohio Republican Party, and CNN Thursday that they will not participate in the March 1 Republican presidential primary debate," CNN said in a statement. "Without full participation of all four candidates, CNN will not move forward with the Super Tuesday debate."Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum also said he would not participate, leaving only former House Speaker Newt Gingrich committed to attending.
Then again, Newt still has time to ferment his southern strategy if he can raise funding. The debate dearth cannot go on forever. More debates will happen. The big wrinkle in the continuity of the Gingrich campaign is not just getting funds to last until Texas (where he believes he can score big), but the fact that due to the redistricting issues in Texas, the Texas primary itself has become a moving target. The current date for the primary is now late May. That makes getting there, that much harder.
If you believe this, which I don't since Gingrich talking usually leads to Gingrich putting his foot in his mouth, you still have to lay the blame on Gingrich is a poorly managed campaign.
ReplyDeleteThere's this thing called YouTube that costs nothing and a lot of people use it. If Gingrich has so many great things to say that he could have dropped at debates he could record it himself on an iPhone if he has to and put it online. If it's so noteworthy, it will go viral like all of the other vids Ronulans post.
I don't disagree that Gingrich can make some unforced errors, However, there are a couple of considerations to counter your points. This does speak to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the Gingrich campaign, but rather the reasons for the others dropping out and in addition, why Gingrich's ideas haven't gone viral as you suggest they would if they were so great.
ReplyDelete(1) Paul and his fans are clearly the masters of viral activity. No one else has demonstrated an ability to compete in that realm effectively.
(2) There is obviously a tactical reason that everyone dropped out. It's no coincidence that it is everyone but Gingrich.
(3) You cannot argue the point that after earlier debates Gingrich did indeed perform well and his polling numbers reflected that performance.
4) Gingrich's foot-in-mouth problems have typically come from outside of the debate forum.