[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
United States News Title: "Let Newt be Newt" Gingrich Is Urged to Be Himself GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As Newt Gingrich prepares for what may be the last debate of the primary season, much in need of another comeback, his campaign has a new saying born of frustration with two earlier lackluster debates: “Let Newt be Mr. Gingrich, more than any other candidate, has seen his fortunes ebb and flow with debates, and there is a consensus in his team that his big loss in Florida’s Republican presidential primary last month was in no small part because of debates in which he strained to look above the fray. According to one top aide, Mr. Gingrich’s two daughters had advised him to strike a presidential pose, but that was not the Newt Gingrich voters craved. “To some extent,” said Bob Walker, another top adviser, “we didn’t let Newt be Newt in those debates.” In the debate on Wednesday in Mesa, Ariz., the first in nearly a month, Mr. Gingrich will not be center stage. His advisers believe that will allow him to remain unscathed while Rick Santorum, the current leader in national polls, and Mitt Romney do battle. “They can be the Chihuahuas, and he can be Churchill,” said Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr. Gingrich. The stakes are high for Mr. Gingrich, who is low on money and facing eclipse by Mr. Santorum’s surge even in Southern states that were to be his bulwark. He needs to give voters, especially conservatives, a reason to return to him. “He’s got one shot,” said Keith Nahigian, who managed Representative Michele Bachmann’s campaign before her withdrawal. “He has to do something substantial. He blew two debates pretty badly.” After Mr. Gingrich won South Carolina on Jan. 21, he ignored openings at the two debates in Florida to criticize Mr. Romney, accepting advice that he refrain from being aggressive, even though the fiery, combative Mr. Gingrich is what rallied so many of his supporters. One of Mr. Gingrich’s daughters, Kathy Lubbers, a senior adviser to the campaign, said she did not recall what advice she gave her father about the Florida debates. Herman Cain, campaigning with Mr. Gingrich in Georgia, last week told crowds, “I knew I had the right guy when Speaker Gingrich at that debate did a smackdown of the media on the very first question,” referring to a CNN debate in South Carolina. Ms. Conway, who is a pollster, said she and the campaign’s top ad creator, Rex Elsass, “were beside ourselves” over the advice Mr. Gingrich received in Florida to remain above the fray, writing “memo after memo that you’ve got to go on the attack.” “Newt’s got to be Newt,” she added. “He doesn’t have to act presidential.” While candidates traditionally prepare for debates with fat briefing books and by practicing answers to anticipated questions, Mr. Gingrich likes to say his only debate coaches are his two grandchildren, who remind him to smile and be brief. That is not the full story. Although he does not hold formal debate prep sessions, senior advisers weigh in with suggestions about what issues he should expect to address and offer possible responses. “It’s important at times for the team to give him some ideas of what questions we think might come up,” said Mr. Walker, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who is a longtime friend. ”He has to feel comfortable in doing it the way he thinks it should be done. He’s had enough experience over the years to be able to handle it on his own. We just need to give him some things to think about in terms of issues so he has some responses in mind.” Mr. Gingrich’s advisers think he will have an advantage as Mr. Santorum is peppered with questions about the social issues that he has made the centerpiece of his campaign, especially controversial remarks against prenatal testing and contraception. Mr. Gingrich is being advised to emphasize instead his latest economic issue, rising gasoline prices and his pledge to expand drilling to drop the price of gasoline to $2.50 a gallon. One of Mr. Gingrich’s biggest applause lines while campaigning is that no American president should “ever have to bow to a Saudi king,” a reference to a 2009 incident in which President Obama bent deeply while greeting a Saudi ruler. His campaign recently added a photograph of the encounter to the home page of its Web site. Mr. Santorum is expecting Mr. Gingrich to come after him, but he will most likely repeat the effective point he made in Florida debates, in which he lumped Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney together as once favoring individual health care mandates, the heart of Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul. “There’s no doubt that Gingrich is a great debater, but there’s no great performance that will enable him to rewrite history,” said Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Mr. Santorum. One important difference heading into Wednesday’s debate, sponsored by CNN and the Arizona Republican Party, is that Mr. Gingrich has no other public appearances that day, a departure from previous debate days when he campaigned vigorously and, his staff believes, was tired during the debate. “You can’t help, after you’ve gotten the adrenaline going a couple of times during the day, being a little weary by the time you get on the stage that night,” Mr. Walker said. “A lot of the plan here is to make certain he has time to relax.” Ms. Conway said, “It’s tough for Newt to chill,” but that is the right plan for him on debate day. “The best prep for Newt is a Diet Coke and time to think,” she said. “Not to study. Time to think.” “In Florida he had one too many people talking in his ear, and nobody appreciated that until after the fact,” she said.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#2. To: calcon (#0)
“You can’t help, after you’ve gotten the adrenaline going a couple of times during the day, being a little weary by the time you get on the stage that night,” Mr. Walker said. “A lot of the plan here is to make certain he has time to relax.” Ms. Conway said, “It’s tough for Newt to chill,” but that is the right plan for him on debate day. “The best prep for Newt is a Diet Coke and time to think,” she said. “Not to study. Time to think.” Poor baby, he sounds awfully high maintenance.
#4. To: mininggold (#2)
Can Newt out-crazy Santorum? That's all I want to know.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|