Why Gingrich is Bad (and Romney is Awesome): A Politico Megathread Spectacular

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Does jmfcst's quasi-endorsement of Newt make anyone else more skeptical of the former Speaker's chances?

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First, this seems like a strange issue for Romney to pick up on. Didn't Republicans choose to stop talking about the Ryan plan because it terrifies seniors?

Second, I don't think that Romney has ever seemed more unlikable than he has over the past two weeks, and the overblown attack ads haven't helped. Will Romney will blow the nomination through the mistakes of his own campaign?

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It isn't strange to pick up on the one issue where Romney has been on Gingrich's right for a while now. As to the second point, how's it overblown? There's no exaggeration in that spot.

1. First, Romney is marginally to the right of Gingrich on immigration. Second, Gingrich said something dumb and quickly backtracked from it. To my knowledge, his current position isn't any less conservative than Romney's. Regardless, I don't think that there are many substantive differences of opinion on policy between Gingrich and Romney. (In fact, one of the interesting feature's of Newt's rise is that he's managed to do so on a platform that is so similar to Romney's.)


2. Most attack ads are overblown; that's how they work. In this case, the use of music alone is enough to merit that label. More importantly, the purpose of the ad is to bring up the most embarassing moment of the Gingrich campaign, despite the fact that it happened over six months ago and without mentioning that Gingrich has retreated from and apologized for the remarks he made on Meet the Press.  Also, consider this statement from the conference call:

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From what I know, Scozzafava was actually generally pro-gun.

Yes, emphatically so. No one could get elected in her assembly district (in which I lived) without being adamantly pro-gun rights. In fact, the NRA endorsed her over Hoffman.

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Romney supporters [i.e. Politico]: Are you comfortable supporting a candidate whose favorite book is L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth?

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Ever notice how Democrats, on television or in the streets or even on here, are pretty much quiet about Gingrich?

No, both Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi have made highly-covered comments about Gingrich.

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Ever notice how Democrats, on television or in the streets or even on here, are pretty much quiet about Gingrich?

No, both Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi have made highly-covered comments about Gingrich.

Higher powers shut them up about it rather quickly, and I don't blame them one bit.

"Higher powers"?

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Anyone but Gingirch winning in Iowa actually benefits Romney,

Disagree - then again, I've always doubted the potency of the Gingrich campaign. Romney would probably prefer that Paul or Bachmann takes the caucuses, but Santorum or Perry winning Iowa could make the campaign more difficult for Romney than a Gingrich victory would have.

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Are you sure about that? Santorum or Perry winning would give the momentum to make it a race in South Carolina, where they would likely draw most of their support from Gingrich, turning what is currently a two man race there into a three person race. Gingrich winning Iowa would solidify his position as a frontrunner and make it essentially a two-person race in South Carolina and Florida. While Romney still would have a shot, I think it'd be hard for him to win either against only Gingrich. Meh.

I didn't realize that we weren't working under the shared assumption that after Iowa, Gingrich will be a non-factor. He's squandered his chance at victory there and at this point he'll be lucky if he finishes fifth.

Gingrich doesn't have the money, the organization, the party support, or the endurance to withstand a poor performance in Iowa. If no one else breaks out, he may continue to draw double-digit support in the early Southern contests, but  I can't imagine his presence being much of an obstacle to a surging Santorum or Perry.

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Any candidate who is doing well enough to take the nomination from Romney will, necessarily, have no problem beating him in South Carolina, Newt or no Newt.