Gingrich Here to Stay?
If you have been following the GOP Presidential Primary Race this fall, you have seen that Republicans have had trouble sticking to one candidate. Mitt Romney was a clear frontrunner in the summer with Michele Bachmann a close second.
When Rick Perry entered the race, his poll numbers skyrocketed but poor debate performances have seen him fall back into the pack. Herman Cain saw his numbers jump after Perry’s fall, but his campaign has been plagued by scandal and poor responses to questions on foreign affairs.
Now that Cain has fallen off, Newt Gingrich is the new flavor of the month. He has passed Romney, who has been securely in second place almost all fall, in almost every poll. While many analysts saw Gingrich a just another boom-and-bust candidate, there are some signs that Gingrich may have some staying power.
For instance, in Iowa, a key early primary state, Gingrich has double-digit leads over Romney in many polls. That is problematic for Romney, as he just recently committed to winning the state. Early in the race, Romney focused much of his energy and resources on winning New Hampshire and Florida, presumably because he thought that Iowa was inevitably going to go to the favorite Tea Party candidate. Suddenly this week though, Romney had ads running in Iowa, he had New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie campaigning there for him, and his spokesperson said they were trying to win in Iowa.
Perhaps this was Romney’s plan all along or perhaps Gingrich’s sudden momentum caused this shift in strategy. Gingrich had leads over Romney of at least 24 points in all three polls of the primary that came out of Florida this week and polls out of South Carolina are also showing him with a comfortable lead over Romney.
Cain Suspends Campaign
Cain announced this week that he would be suspending his campaign. This doesn’t mean his campaign is over but he is basically out of the running. His poll numbers have plummeted and if you can’t tell, I am tired of writing and reading about him. Goodbye Mr. Cain!
Obama Starts Campaigning
If you watched any satellite television this week, you may have seen President Obama’s first campaign ads. The two ads urge voters to mobilize for his campaign and they can be seen here and here.
His campaign also released a video online, attacking Mitt Romney for what they see as a history of flip-flopping. Watch it here.
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