Blogs For Victory

As much as I’d like to believe that my endorsement of Newt Gingrich has be so influential that his poll numbers have dramatically improved because of it, the truth of the matter is that more GOP primary voters are seeing what I’m seeing, that Newt Gingrich is the candidate they want to see go head-to-head with Obama.

Newt Gingrich has taken the lead in PPP’s national polling.  He’s at 28% to 25% for Herman Cain and 18% for Mitt Romney.  The rest of the Republican field is increasingly looking like a bunch of also rans: Rick Perry is at 6%, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 3%, and Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum each at 1%.

Compared to a month ago Gingrich is up 13 points, while Cain has dropped by 5 points and Romney has gone down by 4.  Although a fair amount of skepticism remains about the recent allegations against Cain there is no doubt they are taking a toll on his image- his net favorability is down 25 points over the last month from +51 (66/15) to only +26 (57/31). What is perhaps a little more surprising is that Romney’s favorability is at a 6 month low in our polling too with only 48% of voters seeing him favorably to 39% with a negative opinion.

Gingrich’s lead caps an amazing comeback he’s made over the last 5 months.  In June his favorability nationally with Republican voters plummeted all the way to 36/49. Now he’s at 68/23, representing a 58 point improvement in his spread since then. As recently as August Gingrich was mired in single digits at 7%, and even in September he was at just 10%.  He’s climbed 18 points in less than 2 months.

Go Newt!

The other day I broke my tradition of not publicly endorsing a candidate in GOP presidential primary by endorsing Newt Gingrich, today I’m happy to report that polls show that while Newt had a rough start with his campaign, he’s starting to gain traction.

After stumbling badly out of the gate, Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign is showing surprising signs of life — rising in the polls and even attracting rising support from evangelical voters who have long been cool to the former House speaker.

“I definitely think it ends up Newt versus [former Massachusetts Gov.] Mitt Romney at some point after the caucuses and primaries are under way,” said Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, a Republican who has endorsed the Georgian in her state’s key January caucuses.

“Newt will become the major challenger to Romney,” said Polk County, Iowa, GOP Chairman Daryl Kearney. “All national polls now have Newt with a solid hold on third place.”

He cited a new North Carolina poll that placed Mr. Gingrich second to Mr. Romney ahead of former businessman Herman Cain.

Coupling a string of strong debate performance with rising doubts among the party faithful about the viability of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Mr. Cain, Mr. Gingrich could become the race’s new magnet for Republicans looking for an alternative to Mr. Romney.

I admit that I originally wrote off Newt as being “yesterday’s news.” But things changed quickly as his performances in the debates showed me that he was the candidate I wanted to see go head-to-head with Obama.

Support Newt today!

I have been blogging since March of 2003. My political activism led me to launch Blogs For Bush in November of that year, and it was a very successful blog.

I enjoyed blogging then. As a conservative new to political blogging, it was nice not to deal with a contentious primary. I am not a big fan of primaries, as too often egos and ambition result in Republicans fighting like they are on stage with Democrats.

In 2008, we had a primary, and I made no endorsements. I had my preferences, but I felt that it was better to remain publicly neutral in the primary for the sake of my readership.

Now, here we are, with another presidential election on horizon. I promised myself early on I would once again refrain from making a public primary endorsement. This was partly because I felt neutrality was best for my readers, and because I have been genuinely open minded about the slate of candidates.

But, things have changed. I have watch several debates, and each time one candidate stands out among the rest. One candidate has consistently demonstrated an ability to keep his on the correct target. Only one candidate has shown an incredible depth of knowledge and experience that is genuine and  honest, and unmatched.

This will likely be my last presidential primary as an active political blogger, and even though I previously promised to remain neutral, I feel that there’s just too much at stake in this election to not throw my public support behind the candidate I feel should face Obama in 2012, and who has the best chance of winning.

That candidate is Newt Gingrich.

those who doubt Newt’s chances of winning the nomination, his campaign sent an email out to supporters earlier today, informing them that “A poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers this week has Newt surging ahead of Mitt Romney by three points.” Newt’s momentum in other early early primary states as well. Clearly, Republican voters are giving Newt a serious look. His performance in tonight’s debate was another impressive performance by a man who not only has a wealth of knowledge on all the issues, but he’s smart enough to not to be played by the media.

Primaries bring out the worst in Republicans, and not just the candidates, but the voters. Newt Gingrich has not only impressed me with his intellect and command of the issues, but also with his ability to stay above the fray. In this election, he’s consistently been the epitome of class and intellect. He’s the man I want to see face Obama next year.

Visit Newt’s website. Follow his campaign on Twitter. Join him on Facebook. Donate to his campaign. We can win if we unite.

Yup, the fun continues. Will you be watching? Are you rooting for anyone, or are you keeping an open mind to decide which candidate you want to support?

I am live-tweeting the debate here.