The clip was uploaded to YouTube at around 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday. By noon, it had made headlines in a half-dozen major news outlets and drawn a dyspeptic response from a spokeswoman for a front-running presidential campaign. By …
2012 Election
Newt Gingrich Contemplates War with Iran
A lively debate continues to swirl in some quarters of Washington about whether time is running out to derail Iran’s nuclear program through military action. The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg, who has perhaps written more than anyone on this subject, relays growing concerns in Israel about Barack Obama’s willingness to use force if …
Did Ron Paul Just Erase Gingrich’s Lead in Iowa?
That’s at least what it looks like in the latest survey from Public Policy Polling. The barrage of aired attacks on Newt from all sides seems to be having the desired effect, plummeting his favorability by 19 points in the last week, and Paul, certainly one of the aggressors, is picking up the pieces. Gingrich still leads with 22% of the …
21 Days Till Iowa: Watching the Lincoln-Douglas Debacle
Silly me. I’d been hoping for a real, substantive debate on foreign policy issues between Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich on Monday. The format was capacious; there were no silly gotcha questions–just mutually agreed upon topics for discussion. It was similar to the way Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated the most profound topic …
Mitt Romney’s New Hampshire Nightmare
There are growing signs that the Republican primary campaign might be a long and muddy slog, a slow grind to accumulate delegates that doesn’t produce a nominee until spring or even summer; a contest more in the World War I style …
22 Days Left: Betcha $10
This will be a brief post. I’m in New Hampshire, waiting for Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman to engage in a 90-minute Lincoln-Douglas style debate about national security–which should be fun. Meanwhile, though the news of the day is the contretemps between Mitt Romney and Gingrich.
Romney slammed Gingrich for taking $1.6 million from …
Gingrich Is a Great Counter-Puncher
As Crowley points out, it didn’t take long for Newt Gingrich to break his pledge to stay positive in Saturday’s big debate in Iowa. “Let’s be candid,” he said (Newt is always “candid” or “frank” or “fundamentally” something), responding to Mitt Romney’s mantra that his own years in business better prepared him for the Presidency than …
So Much for Nice Guy Newt
When I interviewed Newt Gingrich for our print edition a couple of weeks ago, he professed his intention to run a positive primary campaign:
Gingrich told me that, even now that he is surging in the polls, he has no plans to wage a slash and burn campaign to win the Republican nomination. Gingrich says that Ronald Reagan successfully
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GOP Hopefuls Hit the Trail for Critical Campaign Week
It’s a crucial week in the turbulent Republican presidential primary, as the candidates look to piggyback on their performances during Saturday’s debate in Des Moines and prepare for an encore Thursday in Sioux City. But despite the pair of Iowa showdowns, there is — once again — only one candidate roaming the Hawkeye State today: the …
Evangelicals for Mitt? ‘Grassroots’ Group Has Close Ties to the Romney Campaign
Nancy and David French, a couple from Columbia, Tenn., are perhaps the most visible evangelical supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. They started a group called Evangelicals for Mitt back in 2005. Both …
Why the GOP Nomination Fight Could All Come Down to Florida
The race for the Republican nomination looks like it’s finally turning into a real fight with presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney beating back insurgent Newt Gingrich. The pattern of the early voting states has long been assumed to split pretty evenly: Evangelical-heavy Iowa and South Carolina going to the anti-Romney, these days the …
23 Days Till Iowa: Betcha Million Dollars!
It is difficult, given his demeanor, to imagine Mitt Romney as a creature of the playground, but he must have been once. And last night, to his misfortune, an elementary school recess version of Romney suddenly burst forth. “$10,000!” He said, extending his hand to Rick Perry, demanding a bet on the subject of the Romney health care …
Gingrich Emerges Mostly Unscathed From Pivotal Des Moines Debate
In a crucial Saturday night debate that marked the beginning of the final, frantic sprint to the Iowa caucuses, Newt Gingrich weathered an onslaught of attacks from his Republican rivals and emerged relatively unscathed, …