Just a few months ago, Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign looked like it was in its
death throes. His poll ratings were in free fall after his criticism of fellow Republican
Paul Ryan’s plan to reform Medicare as “right-wing social engineering”, and his top staff had quit en masse. But somehow, Gingrich has managed to gradually rebuild his campaign and
rehabilitate himself in the eyes of Republican voters.
The chart below shows how Republican’s views of Gingrich have changed over the course of the campaign. You can clearly see his ratings sliding in May-June, but then recovering slowly since July.
Although they’ve levelled off in the last couple of weeks, they’re now almost back up to the very strong numbers he enjoyed when he launched his campaign and put him just about on a par with Mitt
Romney.
Gingrich’s recovery is also reflected in his overall poll numbers. Just two months ago, a Fox News poll had him on just 3 per cent of the primary
vote. Their latest poll (released last week) has him in third place on 12
per cent.
So how has the former Speaker achieved this turnaround? One factor is certainly his strong debate performances. Gingrich has tried to present himself as being above the fray, and has focused his attacks on Barack Obama and the media – rather than his fellow Republican candidates:
This tactic has played very well with the party’s base, and even won him praise from Sarah Palin.
Gingrich still has work to do if he’s to become anything more than a longshot for the nomination, but this recovery makes him perhaps the best-placed candidate to benefit from the troubles befalling Herman Cain and Rick Perry in the last few days.
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