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Newt Gingrich’s campaign is dead in the water

The architect of the "Republican revolution" is the run-away leader of this year's "Rudy Giuliani El

By Duncan Robinson

Oh dear. A week after his campaign team resigned en masse, there is more bad news for Newt Gingrich in this latest Gallup poll. His positive intensity score has plummeted from a high of 19 in April to just two at the latest count.

Gingrich

To put in context just how mind-numbingly awful this is, take a look at the positive intensity scores of some of the other Republican candidates.

The rest of the pack 

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In Gingrich’s defence, however, he is not the only candidate suffering from falling positive intensity scores. The widely-tipped Tim Pawlenty’s rating has halved, from a peak of 17 to nine. Jon Huntsman’s positive intensity rating has gone down too. But neither Pawlenty nor Huntsman have seen drops as remarkable as Gingrich’s.

Gingrich seems to be fulfilling the Rudy Giuliani role in this election. Like Giuliani in 2008, Gingrich is a seemingly competent – if a little crazy – candidate, running a truly awful, ill-thought out campaign, marred by poor organisation and strategy. For these reasons, I nominate Newt for the inaugural “Rudy Giuliani Electoral Implosion” award. Well done, Newt. You might win something.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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