As the Perry campaign continues a downward fall, buzz over Newt Gingrich is rising in its place. Could a surprise still happen? Around here we are starting to make predictions…
CandidatesBlog contributor, Ryan Larsen says:
I predict Newt Gingrich will win Iowa and after that the field will narrow to Newt and Mitt. Of course, I want Mitt to win Iowa, but with the other candidates tanking I think the right-wing media is coalescing around Newt, and the people will follow.
This can work out very well for Mitt, because Newt’s intellect is unimpeachable. Romney and Newt need to have one-on-one substantive debates – the type Gingrich wants anyway – and this will finally offer Romney a chance to showcase his own intellect. When he runs circles around Newt, the way he did in the back-and-forth on mandates in a recent debate, everyone watching will finally see how intelligent Romney is. They will see that it’s not just “skills” and being “slick” but it’s sheer brilliance. Romney ONLY gets flustered when others are denying him a chance to talk. Gingrich won’t do that, and Romney will correspondingly shine.
I’m skeptical about Newt winning Iowa but agree about everything else. Iowa is a mystery to me. It seems like its natural Santorum territory but he’s practically moved there and is still at 1 percentiness. There’s definitely a surprise lurking in the weeds, im just not sure what or where. but I think Mitt has the best shot since no matter what 2 people he’s down to, he comes out on top:
Romney vs Perry = Romney on communication & economics
Romney vs Gingrich = Romney on clean record
Romney vs Cain = Romney on experience & clean record
The only threat I can see being credible against Romney on communication, squeaky clean record, economics and private and public experience is Huntsman and theres no evidence that he’s gonna make it down to the 2-man stretch.