Gingrich se encuentra con Trump

Halagos mutuos.

Huntsman en America's Newsroom (Fox News)

"No voy a besar el anillo de Donald Trump, ni voy a besar ninguna otra parte de su anatomía. Esto es precisamente lo que va mal en política. Es el espectáculo por encima de la sustancia. Si (Trump) tuviera siquiera algo de coraje, estaría compitiendo por la Presidencia en lugar de manipulando el proceso desde fuera," han sido las duras palabras del Gobernador Jon Huntsman contra el magnate inmobiliario que moderará el último debate del año.

Huntsman también ha señalado su lenta pero continua subida en las encuestas de New Hampshire como prueba de que los votantes están echando un segundo vistazo a su candidatura. "Diría que lo tendrías crudo para encontrar a alguien con un historial más conservador que el mío... Este es un escenario en un estado de cambio constante. La gente sube y baja. Me duelen las cervicales viendo cómo se está desarrollando todo. Creo que este último mes va a ser el revelador."

¿Quién hará el trabajo sucio para Romney?

First Read:

*** Don’t lose sight on the outside groups: Here’s a question we have: Who is going to do the dirty work for Romney to soften up Gingrich? Will it be that pro-Romney Super PAC, Restore Our Future, which has LOTS of money, and hasn’t spent it yet? Another outside group? Remember, it was an outside group -- fronted by Robert Gibbs, of all people -- that started running TV ads hitting Howard Dean in late 2003/early 2004 to stop Dean and eventually move the nomination back to the “establishment.”

Un ejemplo de los anuncios que lanzó el grupo Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values a finales de 2003, atacando a Howard Dean y pidiendo a los demócratas que reconsiderasen a candidatos del establishment como John Kerry o Dick Gephardt.

Cain y Gingrich desmienten que hoy vaya a haber endorsement

ABC News:

Sources close to Herman Cain, who suspended his presidential bid this weekend, said that despite reports late Sunday night, Cain has no plans to announce his endorsement of a candidate on Monday. An Atlanta television station reported Cain would endorse Newt Gingrich today. Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block told ABC News: “I have no knowledge that Cain is endorsing anyone anytime soon.” And Cain’s deputy chief of staff Linda Hansen e-mailed: “Not true. I am not sure where they heard that. Seems the media, in general, has a problem discerning fact from gossip.” A source in Gingrich’s campaign also said a Cain endorsement was not expected today.

Gingrich apuesta por Carolina del Sur

The Associated Press:

For three decades, the Republican who won South Carolina's presidential primary has also won the GOP nomination.

That record helps explain why Newt Gingrich, a self-described lover of history, is working more aggressively than any of his competitors to organize activists and volunteers ahead of the Jan. 21 primary, essentially pinning his candidacy on a state filled with Christian conservatives.

His chief rival, Mitt Romney, is approaching South Carolina tentatively. He invested huge sums in the state in the 2008 presidential race only to bail just days before the vote when it became clear he would lose big to Arizona Sen. John McCain. Many voters couldn't overlook their skepticism of Romney's Mormon faith and his reversals on some cultural issues.

The others in the 2012 race are treating South Carolina as an afterthought while they bank their candidacies on one of the two states that vote first, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Enter Gingrich, who's enjoying a burst of momentum after a summer campaign meltdown.

"I do believe South Carolina will be the decisive primary," the former House speaker from Georgia told Republicans who packed a theater in Newberry last week. "If we win here, I believe I will be the nominee."

(...) Gingrich is building the largest presidential organization in the state. He's sinking more into South Carolina than he has in any other early voting state as he seeks to capitalize on his rebound after a troubled campaign start when virtually his entire staff quit.

He has opened five offices and hired nine people, the most of any of the Republicans.

"Elites"

El Super PAC Make Us Great Again ha pagado 297,000 dólares para colocar este anuncio pro-Perry en las televisiones de Iowa y Carolina del Sur hasta el 11 de diciembre.

NARRADOR: "Las élites de Washington están demoliendo América, destruyendo nuestra forma de vida. Rick Perry no es de Washington. Sus reformas del gasto equilibran el presupuesto. Su plan energético libera a América del petróleo extranjero. Y sus reformas fiscales allanan y simplifican. Así es como pondremos a América a trabajar otra vez. Acabad con los insiders de Washington. Rick Perry, un conservador para Presidente."

"Big Dog"

Ron Paul saca su lado más subversivo con el anuncio más original del año.

Seguro que nunca los recortes masivos han resultado tan sugestivos como en este spot.

Se emitirá en Iowa y New Hampshire.

NARRADOR: "¿Qué pasa con esos lamentables políticos? Muchos ladridos, pero cuando comienza la función, gimoteando como pequeños Shih-Tzus (una raza de perros). ¿Queréis grandes recortes? Ron Paul ha estado gritando por ello durante años. ¿Crisis presupuestaria? No hay problema. Se recorta un billón de dólares en un año. Eso es un billón con B. ¿El Departamento de Educación? ¡Desaparecido! ¿Interior? ¿Energía? ¿Vivienda? ¿Comercio? ¡Desaparecidos! Después, los burócratas. Así es como Ron Paul funciona. ¿Quieres secar el pantano (limpiar el gobierno)? Ron Paul. ¡Hazlo!"

"The America We Love"

Newt Gingrich debuta con un anuncio que recupera la idea que explotó Reagan, de la nostalgia por una América ideal que nunca estuvo claro si existió en la realidad, pero que sí existe en los sueños de los votantes.

Lejos de la fama de tipo duro que se ganó durante años, vemos al candidato como un manso abuelito que habla directamente a cámara mientras se muestran imágenes del amanecer en las montañas, una fábrica en marcha, viviendas suburbanas, un pequeño negocio familiar, un campo de trigo, o una humilde floristería.

Gastará 250,000 dólares para que el anuncio se pueda ver en toda Iowa.

SPEAKER GINGRICH: "Algunas personas dicen que la América que amamos es una cosa del pasado. Yo no lo creo, porque sé que trabajando juntos podemos reconstruir América. Podemos reanimar nuestra economía y crear empleos, reducir el gobierno y las regulaciones que estrangulan nuestros negocios, desbaratar el código fiscal y reemplazarlo con uno más simple y justo. Podemos volver a ganarnos el respeto del mundo permaneciendo firmes, siendo fieles a nuestra fe y respetándonos los unos a los otros. Podemos devolver poder a los estados de modo que todos tengamos mayor libertad, oportunidades y control sobre nuestras vidas. Sí, trabajando juntos, podemos y vamos a reconstruir la América que amamos."

Rumor: Cain anunciará hoy que apoya a Gingrich

FOX:

Sources tell FOX 5 News that Herman Cain plans to endorse fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich on Monday. They say details of a formal announcement are still being worked out.

A spokesperson with the Gingrich campaign said there is a 2 p.m. press conference in New York, which would follow a meeting with Donald Trump.

Ron Paul en State of the Union (CNN)

Bachmann en State of the Union (CNN)

Bachmann en Fox News Sunday

Santorum en This Week (ABC)

Perry pide el voto a los seguidores de Cain

Aunque no parece probable que Cain apoye a Perry después de haberle acusado de estar detrás de las primeras revelaciones de acoso sexual, el Gobernador de Texas ha publicado este cartel en su cuenta de Facebook para atraer a los huérfanos seguidores de Cain. También ha publicado un escrito en su página web pidiendo el voto a los cainistas, presentándose ante ellos como el único outsider que queda en la terna de candidatos viables.

NBC: Gingrich lidera en Iowa; Romney en New Hampshire

NBC News:

With about four weeks until the first Republican presidential nominating contest, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has surged to the lead in Iowa and has climbed nearly 20 percentage points in New Hampshire since October, according to new NBC News-Marist polls.

Meanwhile, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has seen his support drop in both states.

In Iowa, which holds its caucuses on Jan. 3, Gingrich gets the support of 26 percent of likely caucus-goers (including those leaning towards a candidate) -- a 21-point jump since October.

He’s followed by Romney at 18 percent (an eight-point decline), Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 17 percent (a five-point increase), Herman Cain at 9 percent (an 11-point drop) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 9 percent (a two-point dip). No other Republican presidential candidate gets more than 5 percent support among likely caucus-goers.

With Cain’s decision to suspend his campaign -- which he announced on Saturday -- a reallocation of his supporters’ second-choice picks puts Gingrich ahead of the Iowa horse race with 28 percent; Paul and Romney are tied at 19 percent; and Perry lands at 10 percent.

In New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Jan. 10, Romney continues to lead, getting the support of 39 percent of likely GOP primary voters. But that’s a six-point decline since October.

Romney is followed in the Granite State by Gingrich at 23 percent (a 19-point gain), Paul at 16 percent (a three-point increase), and former Utah Gov. Huntsman at 9 percent (a four-point jump). No other Republican candidate gets more than 3 percent support.

The decision by Cain -- who is at 2 percent support in New Hampshire -- to suspend his campaign doesn’t change the race there all that much: Romney stays at 39 percent, while Gingrich moves one point to 24 percent.

¿Quién es el más persuasivo en 1 minuto?

Mike Huckabee cerró el foro presidencial de anoche otorgando a cada candidato 1 minuto para hablarle directamente al votante.

Romney peina New Hampshire en busca de nuevos votantes

En una demostración de su poderío organizativo, el Gobernador Mitt Romney encabezó ayer una iniciativa que llamó "Super Sábado". Empezó con la movilización de cientos de voluntarios en el aparcamiento de una pizzería de Manchester, y siguió con visitas a domicilios y llamadas a votantes. Un total de 500 voluntarios tocaron 5,000 puertas, realizaron 12,000 llamadas, y repartieron 10,000 carteles para colocar en jardines particulares. El candidato también tocó unas cuantas puertas de forma simbólica acompañado por la prensa.

Se calcula que, desde que lanzó su candidatura en junio, sólo en New Hampshire, Romney ha contactado de forma personal con más de 3,500 votantes, y su campaña se ha puesto en contacto con más de 200,000 potenciales votantes republicanos.

¿Queda alguna esperanza para Perry en Iowa?

Según Public Policy Polling, sí. Adelantan en twitter que el lunes publicarán una encuesta sobre el Caucus de Iowa que muestra a Perry haciéndolo mejor que en otros estados.

@ppppolls: Other thing that grabs my attention in IA is Perry appears to be in double digits, much better than he's been doing elsewhere.

@ppppolls: The DMR poll pretty much meshes with what we're seeing in Iowa, except for we have Perry stronger.

El Sioux City Journal apoya a Romney

Como ya hiciera hace cuatro años, el Sioux City Journal pide el voto para Mitt Romney en el Caucus de Iowa.

Se trata de un periódico de tendencia republicana, el más vendido en la sección Oeste del estado, el principal vivero de votos conservadores en Iowa. Aunque su influencia no se acerca a la del Union Leader entre los conservadores de New Hampshire porque no comparte su preferencia por el estilo activista y militante.

Sioux City Journal:

In our endorsement of Mitt Romney before the Iowa Caucuses four years ago, we wrote of America's need for a president possessed of "energy, intellect, vision, charisma and experience" to lead the nation in meeting "formidable, complex, divisive, political and dangerous" challenges.

Since then, the nation's challenges - in particular, its domestic economic challenges - have grown still more acute.

Within this year's Republican presidential field, Romney again stands out as the candidate who is best prepared through experience, skills and qualities to lead the country. Today the Journal endorses the businessman, former Massachusetts governor and former Winter Olympics CEO in the Jan. 3 caucuses.

(...) Through successful, executive decision-making experience in both the private and public sectors, Romney understands economics and fiscal principles in a real-world way. In other words, he's walked the walk. In this year's Republican field, he is the candidate most capable of not only articulating a blueprint for a stronger economy and the restoration of fiscal sanity in Washington, but of assembling a high-caliber team of advisors, forging consensus within Congress and rallying the nation in support of it.

Romney founded his own venture capital and investment company, turned the once-troubled 2002 Winter Olympic Games into a profit-maker and led a state in which registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans nearly three to one and 85 percent of the Legislature was Democratic at the time from a $3 billion budget deficit when he took office in January 2003 to a $700 million budget surplus by the end of 2004. He knows how to build success, achieve reform and forge consensus in support of goals.

Do not discount the importance of personal traits in a candidate for president. As we said in our 2007 endorsement of Romney, if a presidential candidate is a polarizing figure within the halls of Congress and devoid of the personal characteristics necessary to inspire Americans to listen and follow, his or her plans have little to no chance of success, regardless of how detailed and well-conceived they might be. Like the popular Ronald Reagan, Romney combines a pragmatic conservatism with confidence (not arrogance) and an easy, comfortable style and manner, even charm.

If as a Republican your No. 1 priority is the defeat of Obama, consider this: Romney is the candidate within this field who is best-positioned to win general election votes from not simply Republican voters, but from the all-important Independents in the middle, as well as from moderate Democrats on the left.

We do not question Romney's conservative credentials, whether the issue is economics, national defense or social issues. In Romney, the nation would get a candidate committed to reduced taxes, reduced spending and reduced regulation. He advocates for hiking defense spending to 4 percent of GDP and increasing active-duty forces by 10,000, and we trust him in taking the 3 a.m. national security call. If it's a "family values" candidate you want, Romney is a good and decent man of integrity who lives the values he espouses. By virtue of his bid for president in both 2008 and 2012, no candidate in this year's Republican field has been vetted like Romney. If no skeleton has been discovered in his closet to this point, it's likely there isn't one.

DMR: Gingrich 25%, Paul 18%, Romney 16% en Iowa

Encuesta del Des Moines Register:

With the dizzying fall of Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich has stepped into the breach and now stands alone as the most popular GOP presidential candidate in The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll.

Gingrich, with support of 25 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers, is seven points ahead of the rising Ron Paul, who’s at 18 percent. Mitt Romney drops to third, at 16 percent, denting his previously armor-plated Iowa polling average. Romney’s support stood at 22 percent last month.

Cain, who suspended his campaign Saturday, had plunged from 23 percent to 8 percent in just over a month, tied with Michele Bachmann.

(...) One striking finding: The results show Gingrich’s ascendancy has the potential to grow, pollster J. Ann Selzer said.

More respondents choose Gingrich as their second choice than any other candidate. Together, 43 percent of likely caucusgoers pick him as first or second.

With Cain’s departure from the race, Gingrich will likely benefit. More Cain supporters name Gingrich as their second choice than any other candidate.

Rounding out the field: The two Ricks, Perry and Santorum, are locked in a tie at 6 percent. At the bottom is Jon Huntsman at 2 percent.

Foro presidencial de Huckabee

No se les permitió atacarse mutuamente, así que los candidatos se centraron en leerle la cartilla a Obama.