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Gingrich Campaign Press Release - In New Hampshire, Gingrich Says He's Candidate Who Can Beat Obama

January 05, 2012

Newt Gingrich

At a townhall meeting today in Plymouth, New Hampshire, Newt laid out the case why he has the right experience and record of conservative accomplishments to defeat President Obama.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he may be an underdog in the race for the Republican nomination for president, but he believes he's the best person for the job.

Gingrich spoke to voters Thursday morning at the Plymouth Senior Center.

"I think I'm the one candidate who can beat Barack Obama," he said.

Gingrich spent most of his time Thursday attacking the president instead of the other Republicans he will face Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary.

"I am running for president because I think we're in real trouble," he said.

Gingrich also took a few swipes at frontrunner Mitt Romney.

"Gov. Romney ran for governor, called himself -- I'm not making these words up -- called himself a moderate," Gingrich said. "As governor, he appointed liberal judges to appease the Democrats. As governor, he raised taxes."

Meanwhile, in the Union Leader, Jeffrey Anderson writes why Gingrich is more electable than Romney.

It's an article of faith among many Republicans that Mitt Romney is the most electable candidate in the GOP field. But it's not clear that this assertion is actually true. In fact, if one were going to design a Republican opponent tailor-made to President Obama's liking, that opponent would be uniquely vulnerable to Obama's main rhetorical thrust (making class-warfare arguments), uniquely unsuited to take clear aim at Obama's least popular action as President (spearheading the passage of Obamacare), and uniquely strong in states that are unlikely to matter in the general election race. In all three of these ways, Romney is made to order for Obama — while his chief rival, Newt Gingrich, is not.

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Besides, there is more to gauging a general election race than merely looking at nationwide polls. When contemplating the places on the map where Romney would provide the GOP with the greatest electoral advantages, the answer would seem to be in the Northeast and on the Pacific Coast. But none of the states in those regions, save New Hampshire, would be up for grabs in a close race. Instead, Romney would merely succeed in helping the party lose the likes of California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, by more respectable margins.

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The fact that Gingrich is from neighboring Georgia, as opposed to Massachusetts, would presumably help him in Florida, as would his demonstrated strength among senior citizens. (Gingrich is from the Silent Generation and is four years older than Romney, who is a Baby Boomer.) Gingrich's being from Georgia, as well as currently living in Virginia, would also presumably help him in the Old Dominion. Moreover, a GOP candidate who loses in Virginia would also be in danger of losing North Carolina — which would essentially seal that nominee's fate — so it's an added advantage that Georgia borders the Tar Heel State.

As to whether Gingrich or Romney seems more like — and might seem more appealing to — the typical working-class independent voter who will probably swing the election in Ohio, readers will have to decide for themselves. To me, Ohio seems more like Gingrich country, and it would seem that way even if Ohio voters hadn't recently rejected an individual mandate to buy health insurance like the one that Romney still stands by in Massachusetts — and even if that rejection hadn't been unanimous across all 88 of Ohio's counties. Obama's class-warfare strategy seems designed to play well in Ohio, and — partly because of this — it would seem to be a place where it's particularly important to talk early and often about Obamacare. Thus, in addition to his regional advantages in Florida and Virginia, Gingrich might well pose a more formidable challenge to Obama than Romney would in the Buckeye State — which Republicans have won every time they have ever won the presidency.

Read the full column here.

Newt Gingrich, Gingrich Campaign Press Release - In New Hampshire, Gingrich Says He's Candidate Who Can Beat Obama Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/299697

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