Key Strategists Exit Newt Gingrich's Presidential Campaign

(USA Today June 10, 2011) Former House Speaker and 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign imploded Thursday with the resignation of his senior campaign strategists and top supporters in key states.  Gingrich vowed in a Facebook post to continue "the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring," saying it would begin "anew" with an appearance before the Republican Jewish Coalition to the Republican nomination in 2012.  I say "hogwash" to that.  What's serious about the presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich?  Nothing. 

The mass exodus of his campaign staff, first reported by the Associated Press, raises questions about Gingrich's ability to raise money, attract grass-roots support and devise a credible path to the Republican nomination in 2012.  Rick Tyler told USA TODAY, "The campaign manager met with the senior advisers and Newt, and they couldn't find a mutually agreeable path forward."  "They decided to leave, and at that point, I decided I had a disagreement with the path forward, and when that happens the candidate's path forward is the path forward.  It's not the staff's."  Tyler, who has worked for Gingrich for 12 years, claims he believes Gingrich would make a "great president."  Former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, who had been Gingrich's national campaign co-chairman, joined a rival campaign for former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign. 

Gingrich's campaign manager Rob Johnson and strategist Sam Dawson resigned from the national staff, as did top Gingrich supporters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina--Craig Schoenfeld, Dave Carney and Katon Dawson--according to Schoenfeld.  "You have to be able to raise money to run a campaign and you have to invest time in fundraising and to campaign here in the state, and I did not have the confidence that was going to be happening," Schoenfeld, director of Gingrich's Iowa campaign, told the "Des Moines Register."  The wave of resignations included all six paid members of Gingrich's staff in Iowa, site of the opening presidential caucuses.  Gingrich's campaign had gotten off to a faltering start due to a statement Gingrich made in an appearance on "Meet the Press" last month.  He criticized the House Republican proposal to overhaul Medicare as "radical", which he later back tracked from. He spoke favorably of proposals similar to the individual mandates in the health care law that are anathema in the GOP.  Then later "Politico" reported that he had owned $250,00 to $500,000 in a "revolving charge account" at Tiffany's.  Schoenfeld complained that Gingrich wasn't prepared to spend the time and resources he felt were necessary on the ground in Iowa, paticularly before an August 13 straw poll.

Fundraising had become problematic among both small donors and major contributors after Gingrich's controversial appearance on "Meet the Press," according to a source close to Gingrich who didn't want to be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.  The final straw for many aides was Gingrich's decision to go on a long-planned cruise with his wife in the Greek isles for the past two weeks rather than stay in the United States and campaign.

According to my opinion, I believe many of Gingrich's top aides decided to resign was because they sensed a lack of seriousness on the part of Gingrich to mount a serious presidential run for the White House.  I don't detect a serious, conscientious, effort by Gingrich to campaign aggressively to win the Republican Party's nomination in 2012, much less to defeat President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election.  Also, Gingrich damaged his reputation amongst many conservatives over the comments he made against House Budget Committe Chairman Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.  Gingrich isn't a viable candidate for the U.S. presidency.  He has too much baggage.  It wouldn't surprise me if Gingrich withdraws from the presidential race prior to the upcoming 2012 presidential primary.  If Gingrich were to win the Republican nomination, he would handily lose next year's presidential election to Barack Obama.