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Subscribe to RSSNewt Gingrich's bid for the White House seems to have hit a rough patch, financially speaking. The 2012 candidate and former house speaker is laying off roughly a third of his campaign staff, is replacing his campaign manager and cutting back on travel. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
WASHINGTON, DC — Newt Gingrich's campaign is laying off a third of its paid staff, replacing its campaign manager, and lightening the campaign schedule as he continues with poor finishes in elections and is receiving little incoming money for his campaign.
“The campaign is being redesigned to focus on Tampa,” campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News.
News of the cutbacks were first reported by Politico Tuesday evening.
Michael Krull, an Iowan and college friend of Gingrich’s wife, Callista, who took over as campaign manager shortly after most of Gingrich’s original staff ditched him last summer, agreed to resign his position last weekend. Now, Vince Haley, the current deputy campaign manager and policy director, will assume the role.
Hammond refused to comment on what other staff were let go, saying “he will not discuss personnel matters.”
Gingrich’s campaign has been struggling to stay afloat financially for several weeks — posting slightly more debt than cash on hand in the last FEC filing for February. The former House Speaker, though, continues to promise he will go all the way to the Republican convention in Tampa this August unless another candidate obtains all 1,144 delegates beforehand.
Asked earlier today while campaigning in Maryland if he realistically has enough money to last him until the summer, Gingrich said he does.
“The money is very tight obviously,” he told reporters outside the state house.
The speaker even alluded to this apparent staff shake up, as well.
When asked by reporter in Annapolis this morning if he was asking his staff to take pay cuts, Gingrich said: “Well we're working through what it is going to take to get there [to the convention] and I think probably Joe DeSantis or R.C. will have something to say about that in the next day or two.”
Gingrich typically holds anywhere from three to five public campaign events a day but on Wednesday, Gingrich only has one public event scheduled in Washington, D.C. This trend will continue for the campaign as they begin to lighten the number of events.
Communications director Joe DeSantis tells NBC News as far as cutting back travel, “You will see Newt spend longer stretches of time in key states rather than bouncing from state to state.”
The speaker was originally scheduled to spend Wednesday in North Carolina but then cancelled the trip just yesterday.
These shakeups will undoubtedly increase speculation and calls for Gingrich to exit the GOP race. He has only won two states — his home state of Georgia and South Carolina — and is trailing both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in the delegate count.
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Ah, one less turd in the bowl.
All is not lost--the fire-ees can work as volunteers for Rand Paul.
No, Romney will hire Newt's staff for pennies on the dollar with NO benefits.
Gingrich is done.....he had his fun.....and then he was gone...................Romney/Rubio 2012!
Did your parents also flee Castro in Cuba? Did you also get your State of Florida credit card for your personal expenses? Rubio? you have got to be kidding.
It's been planned by the GOP and for a long time already.....try and keep up!
Right, Newt. Your failing campaign is the campaign staff's fault. Your being a lying sleazebag has nothing to do with it.
The problem is the fact that Gingrich couldn't remember what he said the day before.
If we could just find a real canidate. There is not one on either side worth even considering. None of the above 2012!!!
Please, don't take that attitude, you may get a "Romney" for president and lose everything you got.
Newt is just wasting a bit more time of his Israeli sugar daddy. If Newt were to become President imagine that he takes his orders from the Israelis while Romney from his cult.
Newt is getting ready to wrap things up.
And, his wallet.
Poor newton, everyone is kicking him when he's down. Hey Guys! Layoff. Hasn't he suffered enough?
Oops. Maybe not.
It looks like ole "Eye of Newt" is reading the tea leaves and the writing on the wall... better to make a graceful exit than be kicked to the curb... ;-)
Newt will just go to Argentina.
Nice, I think his plan for getting America back to work is working rather well.
Not easy working for the fuhrer, eh?
I just have the feeling that Gingrich, Santorum, or Ron Paul is going to run as an independent candidate. the tea party and the conservatives, in the republican party are not going to give that easy, if Romney is nominated. They won't just hold their noses, and vote for Romney, as they were earlier told to do. Especially since the real Romney is beginning to reappear.
While the Republicans duke it out and continue to spend money, Obama is just sitting on his $1 billion stockpile. Come October we'll have Obama TV/radio ads 24/7! Another election bought & paid for! Hope & change!
Why should Obama spend one dime at this point? These guys are doing a great job on their own with their circular firing squad.
Ooh, he's gonna have to chop up Calista's Tiffany's credit card for sure,
until he can get back to selling crap books to blank-eyed Midwesterners again!
Yay!
Here in MN we know what to do with campaign debts. Hubert Humphrey NEVER paid any of his campaign debts higher than 6 cents on the $! Mayor of Minneapolis, senator, vice President, President, 6 cents on the $ or LESS! Did not matter if there was the money there or not. He woould have saved the country lots of money by not paying our debts.
Excellent point. I can't see a single REPUBLICAN running for office - ever paying for all their TV time. I'll bet these REPUBLICAN campaign debts for TV advertising alone runs in the hundreds of million of dollars.... and since they have set their campaign up as a legal business the business it self just files for bankruptcies and no one gets paid.
Newt says he's staying in the race, but I believe we are witnessing the death throes of his campaign. You can't campaign without money. The only thing that is keeping him in at this point is his enormous ego and Callista's ambition. Good luck with that.
Newt will just start selling Callista's jewels.
Newt still can't get a clue from what is obvious to the rest of us: His campaign is a zombie - dead, but doesn't yet know it.
Please don't let Newt's campaign die. Newt is to much fun watching.
What an egomaniac. Yeah Newt.....it's EVERYBODY else's fault........It's not YOU. Why don't you go pen another book for your minions to buy as if you haven't taken enough already.
Politicians make me SICK! Wish I had their health care plan.....maybe I could afford to be sick at least.
Newt is just a typical REPUBLICAN that will never take responsiability. Watch ROMNEY, he's the same way.
Anyone seen a story from MSNBC about the black panthers offering a $10,000 reward for Zimmerman " dead or alive " ?
You need to go to FoxNews.com if you prefer fiction, nnh...
Hey Newt, Is gas prices hurting you? Why don't you use your secret $2.50 gas price to buy fuel for your failing campaign .
You can say what you want about Newt, but he has a grasp of the Constitution and American history that none of the candidates have, especially Obama. In a debate, Newt would tear him to shreds. Unfortunately, Newt's baggage and past experience in Congress kinda slams the door on his candidacy. Too bad - I would love to see Newt and Obama duke it out in a debate.
stick a fork in Newt because he is done could not have happened to a nicer Jerk
Hay, how about a barbacue, so plump and juicy.
It's really a shame the REAL Republicans are dwindling. It looks like the "international elitests" are taking over BOTH parties. As we've seen for the last 12 years, it's all over but the shouting.
The REPUBLICAN'S never had any ethics.
I like how everyone keeps saying 'Bashing his head in' or 'Bashing his head off concrete' Do you realize if the scenrio you just pitched were real Zimmerman would have been at least dazed and confused by the times the cops showed up with blood pouring out of his head. Head wounds even light wounds bleed a lot. If in fact his head was grabbed and then slammed to the ground with any real force there is a serious chance he would have been knocked out or killed. What more likely happened was by using what claims of injuries Zimmerman is claiming:
Trayvon punches Zimmerman who fell back and his head bounced off the ground. Realizing that the teen was not going to be pushed by some fat @!$%#er following him outside for a suspicious length of time grew afraid and screamed for help as he was pulling out his gun and shot the teen.
Now that is the only possible way your Zimmerman fans theory can work. What I must ask is this. If your Saint Zimmerman was in fact at his car when the attack began how did they get behind a neighbors house? Do one of both of them possess the ability to teleport at will? Why would Zimmerman have run away from Trayvon into a neighbors yard and not into his own car?
Or is it likely that Trayvon punched someone out of fear after being followed and likely hearing Zimmerman mutter '@!$%#ing Coon' during his phone call with 911 while he was being illegally followed. And after that punch which would follow into the witnesses claims of seeing Trayvon standing over a downed Zimmerman see the gun and flee trying to get away from the guy who pulls a gun after a Teen punches him.
No one can tell for sure who was calling for help, even the people in the house whos yard they where now in. If Zimmerman was calling for help and screaming for it why was there no sign of it on his face when the people in the house came out a moment later? If you where truely scared for your life you would most likely be crying and your face would flush red with blood same as with anger. But as the TWO witnesses claimed he seemed to be experiencing none of those. Now I am sure he was in shock as I doubt he had ever killed anyone and even if he is a racist this must have been a shock for him. But why wouldnt the tears or at least some signs of his distressed state be on his face seconds after screaming for help?
Is it possible he is innocent yes but there is a more likely answer of his actions of following someone he didn't know simply because he was looking like a 'Thug' cost someone their lives. I will tell you right now anyone being followed by someone who is obviously tailing them will become scared especially if they are in a place they don't know. And fear makes people act out in violent ways. Trayvon had a right to be afraid of this man following him through a strange neighborhood, Zimmerman had a right to be suspicious of someone he did not know walking after dark in a neighborhood suffering from break ins yes but that right ends the moment he tries to follow him. His job was done when he called 911 and reported Trayvon. Every action after was out of line.
Oh and these claims of Zimmerman not being a racist because he has black friends. I have family members who are black and a mix of black and white. And members of my family are still racist @!$%#s. It is actually much easier for racist to rationalize their hatred for the 'Others' then it is for the people they come to know. They believe their friends are the exception not the rule. Zimmerman does use a racial slur while following Trayvon which likely means he was hostile or at least working himself up if a fight broke out.
Both made bad calls, but the difference is Trayvon used his fist which is a lot easier to make up for then a bullet. Zimmerman made a bad shoot, it is that simple he set in motion the events that caused this incident and was not mature enough or man enough to face it without a pistol. I understand that I might do the same if I was scared but if someone brings a fist to a gun fight you can sure as hell be sure that they are not looking to fight to the death, no one typically is except for those who are wielding the gun. It has become to simple to trivialize the lives of others with a gun as it takes just one motion the slightest twitch of a finger to end another persons life. Zimmerman will have to live with this for the rest of his life whether that be in prison or out in the world.
Interesting - but how does Gingrich's lack of money effect this?