Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a message to his fellow Republicans: the “same old, same old” isn’t going to work in campaigning…it’s time to raise the level…and bar:
Speaking Friday night in Manchester to a ballroom full of Republicans, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “I do think every Republican ought to look at the reception Barack Obama got a week ago.�
Gingrich, who like Obama, is weighing a presidential run in 2008, said, “the interest in him tells you something about Americans more than it tells you about him.�
It shows that many Americans are excited about candidates who don’t fit the stereotypical images of the typical politician. On the other hand, if that was the key to success there would be a huge clamor coast to coast for Dennis Kucinich and Alan Keyes. MORE:
Gingrich, echoing comments from state Republican Chairman Wayne Semprini before him, urged state Republicans to consider a new kind of campaign in 2007-2008.
Americans, he told about 100 people attending the Manchester Republican City Committee dinner-dance, are tired of negative attack ads.
Does this mean that in 2008 Democrats can’t run an ad showing a scantily clad Ann Coulter whispering: “Newt: call me…” ?
Reality Check: Negative ads work. And Senator John McCain recently hired as his campaign manager a top GOP operative who is master at them. The GOP (or the Democrats for that matter) walking away from negative ads if they work is as likely as the telegram making a comeback.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.