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Newt Gingrich's Presidential Campaign In Trouble Following Resignations

Tracy Bloom |
June 9, 2011 | 5:21 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Newt Gingrich pledged to start his presidential campaign "anew" after at least seven of his top aides resigned from his staff on Thursday.

CNN reported: "The staff resignations included his campaign manager Rob Johnson and long-time Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler. Also departing are Gingrich strategists Dave Carney and Sam Dawson. Consultants Katon Dawson, who is based in South Carolina, Craig Schoenfeld, who is based in Iowa, and Scott Rials, who is based in Georgia, have left as well as six staff members in Iowa and Perdue."

Additionally, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, one of Gingrich's national campaign co-chairs, defected to work on Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign.

"Tim Pawlenty is a great man, he was a phenomenal governor, and he is the person I now believe stands the greatest chance of defeating President Obama," Perdue said in a statement released by the Pawlenty campaign on Thursday, which also noted that ""until today, Gov. Perdue was Newt Gingrich's national campaign co-chair."

One of his aides, Rick Tyler, confirmed the mass resignations from Gingrich's staff, explaining they quit because of differing campaign philosophies.

“There were two visions, two paths to victory, and Newt’s path and my understanding of the path to victory were different, and when that happens, then the candidate’s vision has got to prevail,” Tyler said. He added: "I hope Newt comes to a path to victory. And I do believe he would make a great president."

Despite the major setback, the former House Speaker said he is still committed to his presidential campaign.

"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," Gingrich said in a statement.

On Sunday, Gingrich is scheduled to address the Republican Jewish Coalition's Summer Bash in Beverly Hills. The event, which will be held at the Beverly Hilton, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. PDT

Gingrich's campaign has been plagued with problems from the onset, but they hit a crisis point last week when the Republican candidate went away for a planned vacation with his wife.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

As he began a cruise in the Greek isles, a prominent Iowa campaign organizer, Will Rogers, resigned saying at the time he was concerned about the timing of the vacation and about whether Gingrich was committed to the grassroots campaigning necessary to win the nomination.

Rogers said Thursday that after he announced his resignation he had sympathetic calls from other top Gingrich staffers. 

News of the mass departure comes just days before the first significant debate in the Republican primary is to be held in New Hampshire. Gingrich is scheduled to debate with six of the other Republican presidential candidates. 



 

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