There was a time when Newt Gingrich was Cinderella. Now, he’s more like an ugly step-sister — just an unwelcome impediment to the character we all know will win in the end.
Over the weekend, Gingrich completed the transition to fringe outsider candidate, admitting he’s out of cash and unlikely to win the nomination — but said he is staying in regardless. That came after days of similar statements on the campaign trail. His mission going forward: Try and shape the GOP agenda while he still can.
Here’s a quick update on Gingrich’s collapsing infrastructure:
⢠On Sunday, Gingrich said his campaign is $4.5 million in the hole and is already preparing to help out the Republican nominee in the general.
“I’ve already talked to Chairman Reince Priebus of the Republican National Committee,” Gingrich told “Fox News Sunday.” “I want to work this fall to help defeat Obama in any way I could. Whatever the team thinks I can do to be helpful I will do.”
⢠Last week, Gingrich’s health care think tank went bankrupt, an embarrassing development that undercuts Gingrich’s role as the intellectual heavyweight in the race.
⢠Gingrich had already begun to drop staff and scheduled events, pledging to shift his focus to digital outreach and lobbying delegates to go his way if Romney’s not able to get the 1,144 delegates he needs to win the nomination outright.
It’s not new that Gingrich’s campaign has faded since the high-water mark that came on primary night in South Carolina. Gingrich still has a campaign schedule, but he’s shifted away from attacks on Romney to promising to work on his behalf against Obama.
Gingrich’s mission going forward is to try and shape the GOP agenda before he’s removed from the conversation completely. That means fanning the flames of two battles: privatizing Social Security and contraception access — two issues Romney would probably rather keep off the general election agenda.
From Gingrich’s appearance on “Fox News Sunday”:
⢠“A personal Social Security savings account“: Gingrich told Fox he’s hoping to push the GOP to include private accounts in its platform. “Back in 1993, the last time we tried to fix Social Security, if we had adoption a Chilean model, where people have a personal account, there would be $16 trillion in savings by today,” Gingrich said. “That’s how much the build-up would have been just based on what’s happening in Chile, which is not a theory. It’s actually happening.”
Romney was an adamant defender of Social Security. He’s leaned toward upping the retirement age and cutting benefits for the rich, but so far he’s steered clear of the third rail that is privatizing the nation’s retirement system.
⢠Contraception, cont.: Even Romney has suggested it’s time to let go of the fight over contraception access (which the Democrats have parlayed into big polling boosts against the GOP). Romney acknowledged to Newsmax last week that the battle had hurt the GOP.
“There’s no question that over the past several weeks, that a discussion about religious liberty was distorted into a discussion about contraceptives,” Romney said. “And there was the perception that somehow Republicans are opposed to contraceptives.”
Romney blamed any problems the party has with women on “a most unfortunate twist by our Democrat friends,” but it seems clear he doesn’t want to continue fighting a losing battle. Gingrich says he hopes to prevent Republicans from losing their resolve.
“I think you have a platform that says flatly that the government should not force its values on any religious institution. I think that’s a very key part of this,” Gingrich told “Fox News Sunday.” “I was at a Baptist school, not a Catholic school, Louisiana College, and the president said they are right-to-life institutions and [that] Obamacare is imposing, they will close the institution rather than violate their religious beliefs.”
Gingrich doesn’t have much influence now and it’s not clear whether he’ll gain any moving forward. But as long as he stays in the race, on the fringes, Gingrich could push Romney into some uncomfortable spots.
