PJ: Palin's national approval rating is in the low 30's and may have even dipped into the 20's. So is Gingrich so desperate, and out of touch, that he finds the need to play to those few ultra-conservative Palin supporters just to stay in the game? If he does not chose her a his VP running mate he has suggested that she should be in line for a cabinet position and that, although it has been proven that Mrs. Palin has overstated her energy experience (http://washingtonindependent.com/10472/palin-overstates-energy-experience and http://factcheck.org/2008/09/energetically-wrong/), he now suggests that she might run the department in charge of US energy supply?!
Although the US media has covered this development, internationally it is pure tabloid fodder.
The Daily Mail
Battle for the Vice Presidency: Gingrich panders to Palin and Christie stumps for Romney as GOP heavyweights fight over running mates
By Hugo Gye
As the race for the Republican presidential nomination hots up, the candidates have been dropping hints about their possible running mates.
Newt Gingrich today said he would 'certainly' consider asking Sarah Palin to join him on the ballot, while Mitt Romney was accompanied on a campaign stop this morning by Chris Christie, the popular Governor of New Jersey.
Both those GOP heavyweights were thought of as potential candidates for the top job before announcing that they did not intend to run.
Mr Christie endorsed the frontrunner Mr Romney in October, but Mrs Palin has yet to give her support to any of the candidates.
The former Governor of Alaska's endorsement has been eagerly sought by all the candidates, as it would bring the support of Mrs Palin's conservative evangelical fans.
She has spoken positively about Mr Gingrich, and his hints about picking her as his running mate could be an attempt to secure her endorsement ahead of the primaries season.
During a 'tele-townhall' event, a caller asked the former Speaker of the House whether he would consider having Mrs Palin as running mate if he was nominated.
He replied: 'She is certainly one of the people you would look at. I am a great admirer of hers, and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska.'
Mr Gingrich also suggested that the 2008 vice-presidential candidate could occupy a 'very important Cabinet position' if he became President, and singled out her expertise in energy policy.
He concluded by saying: 'She certainly would be on the list of one of the people we would consider.'
At a campaign event in Des Moines, Mr Romney was supported by Mr Christie, who was considered a strong candidate for the Republican nomination before ruling himself out.
The appearance suggests that the New Jerseyan is a prime contender to be picked as Mr Romney's running mate if he secures the nomination.
Mr Christie jokingly warned the crowd that if they did not cast their votes for the former Governor of Massachusetts, he would 'be back Jersey style' to enact revenge.
He also explained that one reason he was so committed to Mr Romney was thanks to the help he received from the presidential candidate when he was in his against-the-odds campaign to become Governor of New Jersey.
'There's 700,000 more Democrats than Republicans in New Jersey, and we haven't elected a Republican United States senator since 1972,' Mr Christie told the crowd.
'So there weren't a lot of people in 2009 who were lining up to get on a Republican's bandwagon for governor - but I will tell you, one of the people who was, was Mitt Romney.'
He added: 'He came down, he worked for me, he campaigned for me, and more than anything else he was a resource and a friend at a time when nobody in this country knew who I was, and half the people in New Jersey didn't know who I was yet.'
Mr Romney leads in polls both in Iowa and nationwide ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080562/Race-GOP-running-mate-begins-Gingrich-sucks-Palin-Chris-Christie-stumps-Romney.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
No comments:
Post a Comment