Schmidt: GOP Establishment Will Have A Meltdown If Newt Wins Florida
RealClearPolitics ^
Posted on January 21, 2012 11:01:49 PM EST by VinL
Schmidt: "Not only are we not moving toward a coalescing of support with the establishment of Newt Gingrich, we're probably moving toward a declaration of war on Newt Gingrich by the Republican establishment. And if Newt Gingrich is able to win the Florida primary, you will see a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language. People will go crazy,"
And you will have this five week period until the Super Tuesday states that will be just as unpredictable, tumultuous as any period in modern American politics. It will be a remarkable thing to watch, should that happen in Florida."
Maddow: "Is there a component of that which is building a firewall around Mitt Romney, protecting him? We saw the establishment try to do that and Romney helping, saying “You can’t talk any smack about Bain. Bain is what I want to run on, it has to be positive, don’t undercut that at all.” Which to me, was like a flashing red neon arrow, “here’s my glass jaw, please don’t hit it.” Is there a way to protect Mitt Romney other than, I think, this wrong approach, Ithey’ve taken with Bain."
Schmidt: "I think everybody in the establishment Republican circles in Washington D.C. is fixated on the numbers we talked about earlier. Newt Gingrich has a 100% name ID, has a 60% national unfavorable number and it’s a number so high that with the 100% name ID it’s impossible to come back from. You’re not electable in a general election, in a 2012 presidential election if your unfavorable numbers are that high. Particularly against a president, that while vulnerable...
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