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Newt Gingrich's 2012 Campaign Staff Quits En Masse!
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 9, 2011
Modified Jun 9, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 9, 2011
Modified Jun 9, 2011
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Between the glitter bomb attacks and the questionable Tiffany accounts, we already knew that Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign wasn't going well. But things took a turn for the pathetic today when most of his senior staff all quit! Suddenly, McMillan/Gingrich doesn't look so bad anymore, does it?
According to Politico, Gingrich's campaign manager Rob Johnson, strategists Sam Dawson and Dave Carney, spokesman Rick Tyler, and consultants Katon Dawson in South Carolina and Craig Schoenfeld in Iowa all quit to protest what one called a “different vision” for the campaign. But don't start thinking that just because the people closest to him don't want to work with him anymore means Newt is going to stop campaigning: "I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles," he wrote on his Facebook page shortly after the news broke.
Politico gives some more info on the breakup of the band: staffers felt that Gingrich had unreasonable expectations as to how to run his campaign. “The professional team came to the realization that the direction of the campaign they sought and Newt vision for campaign were incompatible,” said Carney. In particular, Gingrich wanted to focus on using technology and debates, as opposed to a grassroots campaign, ya know, in person.
According to one official, the last straw was when Gingrich booked a two-week long cruise with his wife to the Greek Isles. “We felt like he’d be better off if he had the opportunity to proceed with his vision and how he wants to do things,” said a source. When one's vision is as pure and unified as Newt's, how could we argue?
Tagged
election 2012
gop
newt gingrich
presidential aspirations
republicans
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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