Newt Gingrich Called Me

I got a call from Newt Gingrich tonight, not the man himself, of course, but a recorded message from him. I have noticed that the tactics that campaigns use in direct mail and fund raising telephone calls differ from what they use on television and in press releases. For that reason, I often report on calls like this to shed light on the process.

Newt's call started with a live human being who let me know that although Newt was leading in the polls, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries would be starting in January, so there was not time to waste in getting campaign cash into the candidates' coffers. (I am using Newt and not Gingrich, because his paid callers were not using his last name either.) He then put on a recording of Newt's which had the following main points.

• Now that he is the front runner, Gingrich has been subject to a smear campaign from left leaning media. This is to be expected, because he is the candidate they fear most.
• Three things distinguish him from other Republican candidates, all of whom would make a better President than Barack Obama.
  
• Gingrich is the best debater, and therefore will crush Obama in Presidential debates in October. This crushing will lead inevitably to Obama's defeat.
  
• He has proven leadership experience. He cited his ability to get welfare reform done as a bipartisan deal with a Democratic administration.
• He claimed that the breadth of his solutions was more compete than any of his opponents. [This is not necessarily a good thing IMHO, and shows his penchant for always pointing out that he is the smartest kid in the class. Since I was actually the smartest kid in the class, I don't enjoy the competition.]
• He chided fellow Republicans for their attack ads against him, and pointed out that Obama will have a billion dollars of campaign cash and free media from the likes of MSNBC to attack Republicans next fall. He said we needn't give them any help.

After the call, a woman came reminding me that true conservatives always knew that Newt's superior credentials and ideas would cause him to rise to the top of Presidential polls. She wasn't actually that eloquent, seemingly barely able to read her script. She proceeded to ask me for a $100 donation. At least it wasn't a three dollar raffle ticket to have dinner. I had heard enough by that point, and told her I was supporting Ron Paul, just to see if I could get a reaction. She just plowed on with her script, so I hung up.

As these things go, I believe Gingrich wasn't really flying anything under the radar, good for him. I am pretty unenthusiastic about my choices; but I actually think that Gingrich could beat Obama, if and its a big if, he didn't self destruct in the interim. Unfortunately, the risk averse bet would be to go with Romney, but hedging one's bets don't produce big pots.