(Ted Rall’s blog)
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Things are tough all over:
527 group waned after Gingrich campaign imploded in June
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The Newt Gingrich money machine that raised $52 million in just four years to promote his ideas and image, American Solutions for Winning the Future, has quietly gone belly up.
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Gingrich set up the 527 group in 2007, but it began to lose fundraising steam almost as soon as the former House Speaker launched his presidential bid in May, Joe Gaylord, the group’s chairman told iWatch News. It closed its doors early last month, an apparent casualty of Gingrich’s beleaguered presidential drive…
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Some GOP strategists and lobbyists familiar with the group say that the Gingrich “brand” was tarnished by his lackluster presidential drive, an effort that didn’t seem to help his 527’s fortunes. Gingrich’s bid was battered in June by the departures of top staff who complained about the campaign’s lack of direction and Gingrich’s lack of focus. Among those who exited were campaign manager Rob Johnson, his long-time spokesman Rick Tyler, and a few fundraisers.
Lee
“Rob Johnson…Rick Tyler”
He employed retired porn stars?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
AMF Fat fuck.
SiubhanDuinne
Gingrich’s staff quit, pretty much en masse. He’s polling in the low single digits. He’s a laughingstock pretty much everywhere. And now his fundraising org has gone tits-up.
How much longer, O Lord, how much longer?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I would love to see the donor list. Are there that many rich people dumb enough to believe Newt Gingrich is useful? that many lonely confused old people who didn’t know who to send their money to after Jerry Falwell snuffed it? I mean, if you’re rich and evil, wouldn’t you send your money to Dick Armey or Karl Rove, who at least know what they’re doing?
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: What if you were rich, evil, and dumb? You didn’t think of that, didja?
Lee
BTW back when I was in the service if you were E-3 or below with a spouse and kid you qualified for food stamps.
I believe it is still the same today.
Incoherent Dennis SGMM
@Lee:
Yes, including Zombie John Holmes. Holmes was willing to work for brains but quit when he found none in the Gingrich campaign.
JPL
Gingrich will be around for a long time, after all what else will he do. Grifters gotta grift.
Violet
So doesn’t this sort of undercut the thinking that Newt got into the race because the money was drying up. Getting in the race didn’t help him in the money game. Why did he finally declare instead of just stringing people along like he had been doing for years?
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Oh, here he comes, another goddamned progressive grifter – Dr. James Hansen, top NASA climate scientist, was arrested at the White House for his dopey Jane Hamsher-worshipping grifting, allegedly on behalf of “the global climate” or some such other personal line-his-pockets scheme. Worse, the other 520 arrestees have now learned to grift along with the best there is, sharing all their secret grifting techniques while crowded together in Cell Block Number 9, and at the same time trying to fool people into thinking they’re “progressives” or “liberals” or that they “care about” anything other than pure grifting… We know what these evil ratfuckers have on their minds, oh yes we do! Trying to slip one over on the astute balloon-juice.com crowd – listen up, you progressive grifting racists, it ain’t never gonna work cuz we are ON to you! So stop trying!
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SiubhanDuinne
I have possibly related this, but a number of years ago when Newt was still a back-bencher, I had a number of occasions to contact his office for work-related reasons. His was the ONLY congressional office I have ever dealt with — and I’ve dealt with about 75 such offices over the years — his was the only one, I say, that just plain flat out never bothered to return a call. I would have been pissed beyond measure if I had been a constituent.
PIGL
Apparently I will be the first to say:
Ha, ha!
PIGL
Apparently I will be the first to say:
Ha, ha!
MikeJ
Gingrich wold have probably done himself better had he said he was in the race merely to raise issues, not that he was in it to win it. Easier to blow off the fact that not even republicans are stupid enough to vote for you, yet the act of campaigning lets you stay in front of the cameras.
Omnes Omnibus
@PIGL: And the second.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MikeJ: I hadn’t thought of that. If Gingrich had stuck to the Huntsman path he kind of started on, he’d probably have wound up with an hour on CNN. Not Fox money, but they don’t need or want him. CNN is flopping around like a fish.
gordon schumway
@SiubhanDuinne:
He sounds like the perfect guest for Meet the Press, This Week, etc! I do hope they can work something out…
Mike in NC
Newt’s gonna have to start pawning Callista’s jewelry.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
You just beat me to it!
Bruce S
More here…
RossInDetroit
He was grifting years ago. A woman I dated in the early ’90s had his expensive collection of videotaped speeches. Utter waste of time unless you want to watch a smug, preening egotist wank on for an hour.
Apparently people do want to watch that but it usually comes with a plot about a plumber, less dialog and some cheezy background music.
Keith G
The missus may have to start buying her baubles at Walmart.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Keith G: Oh they are all fucking religious now so it won’t matter.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman: Yes, except I was also calling district offices in other parts of Georgia, plus Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and North and South Carolina. Of the dozens of House members from those states, Newt’s was the only one that routinely blew us off.
SiubhanDuinne
@gordon schumway:
Oh yeah, that resume has all the necessary credentials for a Sunditocracy gig.
SiubhanDuinne
@RossInDetroit:
“Gingrich: The Criterion Collection”
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: ACK! Pfffffsst!
/Bill the Cat
SiubhanDuinne
Re the cartoon, top: did anyone hear the weekend Marketplace program on NPR with Tess Viglund (however she spells it) interviewing Barbara Ehrenreich on the tenth anniversary of “Nickel and Dimed”? Ehrenreich is one of my heroes, but what she had to say yesterday was just depressing as fuck. Basically that ten years ago she was at least able to get those horrible, demeaning, marginalizing, minimum wage jobs; today she couldn’t even get that far because nobody’s hiring. So dreary and sad.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@SiubhanDuinne: I loved her stories of “visible christians”.
jeffreyw
Open thread needs moar pizza.
Bruce S
“Three charts to email to your right-wing brother-in-law”
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@jeffreyw: Look atchoo!
Another Bob
Gingrich is a fat, prissy old whore. Nowadays, the wingers are into a saucier brand of eye-candy. The twinkly-er and more starburst-y they are, the better.
Svensker
@jeffreyw:
Gosh, that’s pretty. What’s the green stuff?
Drool.
jeffreyw
@Svensker: Basil, still warm from the afternoon sun when I plucked it, as were the tomatoes.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
The kind with chlorophyll, yes?
Steeplejack
Night shift checking in.
Off work today, but back home in the man-cave for the first time since Thursday night. Spent the weekend hunkering down in the brother’s stately Arlington manor in advance of Irene, which turned out to be not so bad in this corner of NoVa. (Not to make light of others’ travails.)
Feels good to be back in my little hideout. Catching up on the Balloon Juice threads and switching among U.S. Open tennis, Jets-Giants and Phillies-Reds for background TV.
Cliff in NH
@jeffreyw:
What should I do with spinach to have it be successful on a pizza?
the plan is spinach, bacon, chicken, on a thin crust … undecided on the sauce. Maybe with tomato too if one ripens or I ride into town and pick up a cheap one.
Yutsano
What the duck is UCT babbling about now?
@Steepman: glad to hear you weathered Irene well. I’m hoping a Dawg dropped me a note when I get home letting me know he survived special duty. Turns out those Marines standing around the President aren’t just mere decoration.
trollhattan
A Rumproast commenter posted this, which I found too
goodshameless not to share. McCain’s brain considers Sarah(tm).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUVQDmLf7s&feature=youtu.be
jeffreyw
@Cliff in NH: Hmm…spinach. I assume just chop it up and scatter it around would work ok, go with olive oil and lottsa garlic. No rules!
Cliff in NH
@jeffreyw:
I was thinking it may need some special treatment to keep it from burning….
will see =)
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
Got a lot of rain Saturday and Saturday night, and some wind during the night that knocked down some tree limbs and the occasional tree, but that was about it. Signs here at the man-cave that the power was out at some point (flashing appliance clocks), but yesterday the weather was balmy–sunny, breezy, mid-80s–and it was the same again today. Caught the first faint whiff of autumn in the air for a moment this afternoon, which will be very welcome after this hellishly hot summer.
Svensker
@efgoldman:
LOL
Svensker
@Cliff in NH:
I’ve found spinach gets crispy if it the raw leaves are on top and exposed to the heat. So either cover it up with cheese or soften it a little first in some olive oil and garlic.
Cliff in NH
@Svensker:
I’m leaning toward a quick wilt in a pan w/ olive oil before putting it on the pie.
JWL
As once happened to Jesus, so it came to pass that Newt was betrayed.
Ruckus
@JWL:
The reports as I understand them was that Jesus was betrayed, while what I see here is newt has betrayed everyone else.
And himself.