Senior Aids Abandon Gingrich

As I mentioned last month on 2012 Voters, Gingrich's campaign got off to a rough start; slamming his party;s own budget solution, getting beglittered by a gay marriage activist, and facing criticism over an alleged quarter-million in debt to Tiffany's Co. for jewelry. Departing on a two-week long Mediterranean cruise has further intensified criticism of him as a serious candidate, or whether his presidential bid is more pomp and relevance. Whatever the case, it was the last straw for many of top campaign aids, who withdrew from the race one day after Gingrich returned from Greece.

Gingrich's campaign manager, press spokesman, chief strategist, and a number of other top aids in early primary states all resigned, calling it a "team decision" according to Politico's, John Martin. Evidently the result of a difference in strategy, Gingrich wanted to use technology and create buzz in debates while his strategists wanted him to take a more traditional grass roots approach. Given his behavior, many of his staffers no doubt realized that they are more like employees for a media sideshow meant to keep his name relevant on bookshelves and news networks than staffers on a presidential campaign run. The resulting evacuation included top aid positions, including everyone on his payroll in his Iowa office for the early caucus.

According to Fox News' Carl Cameron (as reported by Atlantic Monthly), two top now-former aides have close ties to Rick Perry, the present Governor of Texas now considering a bid for nomination. The seriousness of Perry's consideration is up for debate, but Perry would have a strong shot at consolidating the evangelical vote and has ties to Tea Party conservatives. Meanwhile, one of Gingrich's national co-chairs has joined the Pawlenty campaign.

As much as I'd like to make the "rats fleeing a sinking ship" comparison (oops) it does seem a bit like they're jumping onto one or two smaller ships, equally floundering. Perry, though he has some credibility among ultra-conservatives, is having his own issues at home. Texas has a catastrophic debt at the moment, and has made such deep cuts to public services like schools and law enforcement that the public is actually pushing back against their Tea Party elected officials (I'm feeling there's a lot of voters' remorse among Tea Party electees). Perry's most interesting gaffe of late has been, in spite of these cuts, to attempt to help pass a tax cut for luxury yacht owners. By the same token, Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue stated that Pawlenty, "...is the only candidate who has laid out a real plan to grow the American economy, and his track record in Minnesota is proof he's the right man for the job." His track record in Minnesota shows a $5 billion deficit and the treasurer, according to TIME, states his policies are mostly to blame.

In response to the mass exodus of his staffers, Gingrich released the following statement on Facebook: I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles. Clearly Gingrich is going to stick with this until he's wrung every bit of publicity from it, so what will it mean for the GOP field if (when) he drops out? Some may see an opportunity to fill the small vacuum left by him among traditional old-guard conservatives. Gingrich wasn't necessarilly high-ranking among evangelical voters for his infidelities, but he also didn't have the unequivocal kind of fire-branding popular among Tea Parties. His major credentials, for those outside of his immediate readership, are almost twenty years. What does it mean? Business as usual, mostly.