Newt Gingrich is riding a wave of momentum into the Florida primaries and now he has some heavy weight endorsements and cash to bring along with him. Ex-Tennessee senator and Law and Order star Fred Thompson has said that Newt is his guy.
Thompson said on Sean Hannity’s talk show,
“I have come to the growing realization that Newt Gingrich is the guy who can articulate what America is all about,”
Thompson made his own run for President in 2008 but failed to gain traction in the early primary states. He eventually dropped out and threw his support behind John McCain.
In addition to Thompson’s endorsement Newt also got some cash to go along with the South Carolina primary win . Billionaire Sheldon Adelson gave the Gingrich Campaign another $5 million dollars. This brings his total to $10 million dollars (he didn’t give it directly to the campaign but to a Super PAC that supports Gingrich).
While Thompson was endorsing Gingrich, the ex-Speaker was in Florida again debating Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. The smell of desperation was in the air as Romney came out swinging against Gingrich calling him despicable, a lobbyist and railing against his work he did for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
It is really interesting that Romney, who ran one of the larger venture capital firms in America, is trashing Gingrich for working as a consultant to Freddie Mac. It seems as if both Republicans are in a pissing contest as to who can show the others job was more evil.
Gingrich has been very effective at painting Romney as being out of touch with the American mainstream. This in large art has worked because it appears to be true. Romney has told reporters that he considers speaking fees of $350,000 as being “not much”. He also seems to think it is ok that as he rails against Obama for a lot of positions he also held at some point in his career.
It also doesn’t help either candidate that Santorum keeps holding on for no apparent reason. He lacks support in most states, and doesn’t have the money to compete. Ron Paul will forever be a pain in the ass of the Republican party but he will drop out soon too.
In a race between Romney and Gingrich let the best man (who isn’t Romney) win.
Check out the interview where Fred Thompson endorses Newt.