Gingrich Falls Short of Signatures Needed for Spot on Virginia Primary Ballot
 

Gingrich Falls Short of Signatures Needed for Spot on Virginia Primary Ballot

Newt Gingrich declared confidently the other day that he would get his name on the ballot for the Virginia presidential primary. In fact, he said he already had the requisite 10,000 signatures and an additional 2,000 to 3,000 for safety?s sake and would probably collect even more.

But that turned out not to be the case. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Virginia Republican Party announced via Twitter that Mr. Gingrich had failed to submit enough signatures by the Thursday deadline, highlighting the organizational challenges to his campaign and raising questions about his prospects in a drawn-out nominating fight.

Many of the Gingrich campaign?s signatures were apparently invalid, which is why most campaigns try to collect almost twice as many as are needed. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota also failed to make the grade.

This misstep is bad news for Mr. Gingrich on several levels. Virginia is his adopted home state. Failing to gather enough signatures in your own backyard creates an image problem, at the very least.

?It?s a disaster for him,? said Larry J. Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. ?This sends yet another signal to Republicans that Gingrich is not able to organize.?

The Gingrich campaign said on Saturday that it would plan a write-in campaign in Virginia.

?Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates,? Mr. Gingrich?s campaign director, Michael Krull, said in a statement. ?We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice.?

The failure to get on the ballot in Virginia could also shake the confidence of voters in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida ? all of whom vote in advance of Virginia. Why, his supporters in those states might ask themselves, should I throw my vote away on someone who might not be competing in other critical states?

Also, Virginia is the country?s 12th-largest state in population. It will be offering up a rich trove of delegates on March 6, and now those delegates are likely out of reach of Mr. Gingrich.

Mr. Gingrich has been leading in the polls in Virginia, and his brand of conservatism is a natural fit for the state.

Rival campaigns seized on the setback as a worrisome sign of disorganization within the Gingrich?s campaign. Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, called it ?cringe-worthy.?

?It?s a gut-check moment for Republicans,? Mr. Fehrnstrom, said. ?Winning campaigns have to be able to execute on the fundamentals. This is like watching a hitter in the World Series failing to lay down a bunt. ?

The failure to qualify for the ballot comes at a bad time for Mr. Gingrich as he faces headwinds in Iowa, where the caucuses start the voting on Jan. 3, and it comes as he remains behind in the polls in New Hampshire. His strength appears to be in South Carolina, but in Virginia, there will be no Southern candidate on the ballot.

Both Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, whose organizations have been laboring in the signature-gathering vineyards for months, were able to get on the Virginia ballot.

Mr. Sabato predicted that other candidates would trumpet the news of the Gingrich failure next week when they resume campaigning in Iowa.

?It?s nonpartisan,? he said. ?It?s not an attack; it?s a fact.?

Still, it is hard to predict the practical effect of his absence from the Virginia ballot. The state is 1 of 10 that votes on March 6, Super Tuesday. Eleven states will have voted by then, including big ones like Colorado, Florida and Michigan (and not counting Missouri, where delegates are not at stake).

If those earlier states have not winnowed the field of candidates, then Super Tuesday becomes more important. Because the Republicans are picking delegates proportionally this year, instead of winner-take-all, the candidates who are in the top tier ? Mr. Romney, Mr. Paul and Mr. Gingrich ? are likely to be competing for every delegate in what is expected to be a protracted primary fight.

Mr. Gingrich does have a safety card on Super Tuesday. Georgia, which he represented in Congress, votes that day, and if all goes well for him, he should win most of its delegates.

But whether there is any practical effect, Mr. Gingrich immediately began suffering a psychological effect as the Twitterverse and pundits questioned his ability to organize as well as his credibility ? he had declared with authority earlier that he would make the ballot.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/us...-virginia.html

It?s Mitt Romney v. Ron Paul In Virginia As Other Candidates Fail To Qualify For Primary Ballot

When you?re running to be the next President of the United States, it?s generally a good idea to make sure people are able to vote for you. But in a surprise twist in this already twisted-up campaign, both Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry will not be on the ballot when Virginia Republican voters go to cast their vote for their party?s nominee, meaning the primary in that state will boil down to a contest between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

Which leaves Romney and Paul, two candidates whom different factions of the Republican party have shown a deep dissatisfaction for. The lack of other frontrunner candidates means Romney might have a stronger showing in the state, but Paul?s recent surge in the polls might end up surprising analysts who have already ruled out his prospects of winning the race.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/its-m...rimary-ballot/

ron paul wooooo

ron paul is going to kick his ass in the online poll for sure!

Obama has it in the bag.

Obama cant beat Ron Paul unless hacking the Diebold voting machines count

Proactive conspiracy theory? :upsidedow

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vGXtXfScdV...bertarian2.jpg

Pretty big blunder by Bachmann, Perry, and Gingrich, et al.

ADG

Too bad for Bachmann, Perry and Gingrich.

Go Ron Paul!

Well, from my perspective it reveals how idiotic it is to think that Gingrich et al can even compete with Ron Paul. If you cant even get 10,000 signatures in your ADOPTED HOME STATE (he lives there) and a populous state to boot, then how can you possibly mount a challenge to Ron Paul.

The fact is like it or not in this election your choice is Ron Paul or Barack Obama. Mitt Romney could theoretically win the GOP nom but he cant beat Obama, especially since Ron Paul voters wont vote for someone else. Even if they sat out Romney could not win but the majority would just write Paul in anyway. The math is simply not there for Romney. Plus religious conservatives wont get past the magic underwear thing, and that math goes double for Gingrich. What Dem or Independent is going to vote for either of those guys. It's not going to happen. The reality is that only Paul can beat Obama. You may not like it but that's the reality you need to face up to, sorry. Now if you like Obama and want him to win than that's another issue which I could go on and on about why thats stupid but anyway...

And then blames it on Virginia's GOP committee... What a fucking moron... If you can't get 10,000 sigs in a state of millions you are an idiot.

yeah well all the republican candidates are beyond pathetic. all of them are deeply repulsive and frightening to the average voter. that ron paul is ahead in certain polls is not because paul is strong, but the rest are so weak. the party is so deranged and sick no sane persona wants to run for them.

President Obama has already beat Ron Paul since Ron Paul does not have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the nomination...anymore so than he ever has in the past.

thats what 3rd parties are for

There are about fifty registered political parties and many of them run nominee's for the Presidency every Presidential election...but all of them combined do not garner enough votes to make a significant difference. If Ron Paul did happen to run other than as a Republican he still does not have a snow balls chance in hell of becoming President but could pull enough votes to insure that their will not be a Republican President...much as Nader cost Gore the Presidency.

Let's face it, as much as no one seems to want him, Mittens (aka the flip flop kid) is gonna get the Republican nomination.

Obama has this election in the bag :1orglaugh


Having said this, if I was a Republican I'd definitely vote for Ron Paul if only because he really believes in what he says.

He could easily run as a libertarian or as an independent candidate, but it would be almost impossible for him to win. Obama will have a war chest of near $1 billion dollars to spend on the campaign. Paul has shown he can raise money, but nothing like that and as an independent he won't have the RNC and the republican machine behind him helping him out so he is going to have a hell of a hard time competing.

Add to that that most Paul supporters are either republican or right leaning independents and he is likely going to pull more votes away from the republican nominee than Obama which gives Obama another advantage and would pretty much guarantee him the win.

which is precisely why if anyone wants Obama out they better get behind Ron Paul now because if they dont Obama WILL be re-elected guaranteed. Ron Paul supporters will just write his name in anyway whether he runs third party or not, no question about it.

While I am not a big fan of the current President I damn sure would not want him replaced by Ron Paul.

Everyone has a right to their opinion. Just curious though why you say airborne all the way but dont support the troops who overwhelmingly support Ron Paul, more donations than anyone else combined, including Obama. Just sayin'

Just saw some online polls placing Paul behind Gingrich

In Virginia, the candidate has to submit a specific number of signatures from each of eleven districts as well. Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry all failed to get enough. So it's not just 10,000 signatures and it's not just Gingrich.

In the national polls Paul is a distant third behind newt and mitt. . . actually the only poll where Paul is leading is Iowa. If he is going to win he will need to win Iowa or come in a very close second then use that momentum to raise massive amounts of money and publicity to gain ground in the other states. It can be done, and has been done recently, but it will be a big uphill battle.

You are correct, but it's something like 400-500 sig's per district or something like that. Gingrich lives in VA. If you cant even lock up your adopted home state then that does not speak well for your organization or support.

it's obvious that a romney superpac paid off the virginia republican party to rig the signatures so that only he & paul get on the ballot. theres no other explanation for bachmann & perry missing the cut.

I thought online polls did not matter. At least thats what everyone says when RP wins them. Oh, I forgot, we are talking about Gingrich this time. Thats totally different LOL

I think thats largely because people stupidly believe the media lie that RP cant wion. Once he wins Iowa that dam will break and his numbers will move up dramatically. Which is exactly why the media is attacking him so hard now.

The media isn't giving Paul a next to no chance of winning because they are scared of his message or because they are carrying out some kind of anti-Paul conspiracy they are doing it because traditionally people in his position don't win the nomination. He is way behind in the national polls and while he is raising money, the republican standard bearers don't like him so he will not get much help from the RNC faithful and the republican machine so even if he wins Iowa he will have to really hit the fundraising hard to carry him forward. Historically, guys like him don't win.

When you compare the treatment he is getting to Cain, Bachmann and Perry, all three of them, at one time or another, actually led in the national polls. Paul has never been better than a distant 3rd and is only leading in the Iowa poll.

If he wins Iowa it will help him greatly and it could springboard him forward. If he wants to win he will have to do two things. 1. Raise a shitload of money and 2. Figure out how to get his message to resonate with the moderates. If he can't do those two things he could easily win Iowa and then be out of the race by Super Tuesday.

bachmann, gingrich, cain have all but put through the ringer by the media. even forcing cain out of the race. the paulbots hate when anyone attacks their sacred cult leader, even though it is just par for the course on the national stage.

Exactly. When you suddenly appear relevant, they are going to talk to you and the shit from your past like racist newsletters with your name on them are gong to keep coming up over and over again. No matter how many times he answers the question, it will keep getting asked. How many times was Cain asked about his affairs?

It might be dumb to keep pounding on a subject that has already been explained and answered, but that is the way the media works. It is happening to Newt right now too.

I question your statement about the troops...but none the less...I for one do not like his stated position about the size of our military and the fact that he would like to see the military turned into a "defense" force.

I will say this though...I do not fear a Ron Paul Presidency because the majority of his positions would never get through congress...thus his Presidency would be a weak one.

Your SITREP is spot on.