On the heels of Newt Gingrich’s trouncing of Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary, Republican Party brass are privately expressing deep concerns that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s high unfavorable rating in national polls could prove catastrophic to the so-called “down ballot”–the House and Senate races under the presidential race–and may even threaten the Republican Party’s control of the House of Representatives.
GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, who previously served as Sen. John McCain’s senior campaign strategist, told MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow that if Mr. Gingrich wins next week’s Florida GOP primary, there will be “a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language. People will go crazy.”
Mr. Schmidt said he believes Mr. Gingrich’s near universal name recognition indicates that perceptions of Mr. Gingrich have calcified over time and are therefore unlikely to change. With a national unfavorable rating that he puts at 60 percent, Mr. Schmidt says he believes a Gingrich candidacy could spell disaster for Republican hopes of holding the House and regaining the Senate.
Newt Gingrich has a 100% name ID, has a 60% national unfavorable number and it’s a number so high that with the 100% name ID it’s impossible to come back from. You’re not electable in a general election, in a 2012 presidential election if your unfavorable numbers are that high. Particularly against a president, that while vulnerable, is still a net positive in that number. So people look at Newt Gingrich and don’t see him as a plausible candidate in the general election, so the Republican establishment who thinks that the president is vulnerable and beatable is going to begin to melt down if Gingrich’s momentum continues.
Also something important to remember there are 33 House Republicans in districts that Barack Obama won. What is the impact in terms of Republicans being able to keep the House of Representatives in majority control if Newt Gingrich was the nominee of the party? What is the impact in the United State Senate races where Republicans have a great chance of taking majority control of the United States Senate? With Newt Gingrich as the nominee of the party, that is, perhaps, all up in the air.
But an ABC News poll taken last December found Mr. Gingrich’s unfavorable rating (48 percent) was almost identical to that of President Barack Obama (49 percent). The same poll, however, found that Mr. Obama’s favorable rating (48 percent) was 13 points higher than that of Mr. Gingrich (35 percent).
Still, other conservative commentators, like RedState.com editor and CNN contributor Erick Erickson, dismiss the dire GOP establishment’s soundings of doom as little more than fear that a Gingrich candidacy might diminish their influence and power within the Republican Party:
One thing that I think you will see, if Newt somehow gains the nomination, is the complete changing of any and all debate formats. Newt compared to Obama, intellectually, isn’t even a contest, and the MSM cannot have their “Messiah” trounced on national TV.
Depending on how well he’s polling, Obama might do what Johnson did against Goldwater and just refuse to debate him. I have no idea how that would go over today, though.
I think it’s a mistake to choose a candidate based on polling data taken 10 months before the election. The American voter is notoriously fickle and easily swayed, and most people aren’t paying serious attention to the race yet. They’re waiting for the Rs to sort out their candidate. Then they’ll start listening.
If the Republican Establishment is against Newt…. then that’s enough endorsement for me… Go Newt 2012
The Beltway Republicans are not king makers. We the electorate better be taken serious. Stop anointing our candidates. Primaries are for a reason. Talk it out, let the voters decide. Primaries are not a PR run for whoever the establishment picks as the candidate. But that is what happened. And it riled up the base. Continue to marginalize us at your own political expense.
‘If the Republican Establishment is against Newt…. then that’s enough endorsement for me’
lol, by that logic you should support Ron Paul – the establishment likes him even less than Newt, though they haven’t been as vocal about it recently since he seems to be contained. More generally… sometimes the Establishment’s reasons for disliking someone are valid, and not just a case of them protecting their interest in the status quo.
I’d vote for Ron Paul before I’d vote for Romney… Newt in 2012
Ann Coulter is lecturing us on snotty remarks! The queen of snotty! Go Newt!!!
In the case of Ron Paul, it doesn’t take the establishment to tell us he’s unworthy of the position and un-electable
The mere mention of a few facts by Romney rattled Newt so much that he had to retreat into the statement, “Check out my website”. That kind of response is not going to get it when he meets a real opponent, like Obama.
He didn’t do as well last night as in his previous outing. He draws energy from the audience response, and they were instructed not to applaud. Silence is his kryptonite… hence this:
” Newt’s HIGH UNFAVORABLE RATING in national polls”. This is why polls also show greater possibility of BHO RE-ELECTION if Gingrich wins nom.
Ofcourse slill a long road ahead and Newt’s chance at nom. at only 29% up from low of 5%.
Tercel I’ll bet you like Coulter when she’s blasting BHO or Clinton rather than her savage beatdown of Newt and Callista on O’Reilly last night.
Now that’s funny… McCain’s McCain’s senior campaign strategist thinks a Newt nominations would result in “a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language. People will go crazy.”
LOL! Perhaps he thought his own former boss was beloved and well received by the conservative masses.
Me? When I see those who ran a losing campaign for a nominee that we really didn’t want… only redeemed by his Palin pick…. giving off these warnings, I’d say we’re on the right track.