Newt Gingrich Has Real Big Problems

Newt Gingrich has some serious problems. Its not the approximately 84 ethical violations against him while he was Speaker of the House, or the numerous affairs he's had or that he endorsed cap and trade he has to worry about. 

Gingrich has problems getting on the ballot in some states in time for the GOP primaries which begin in 26 days: 

Newt Gingrich is surging in the presidential polls, but his campaign organization has not caught up — making it possible he’ll miss Wednesday’s deadline to file enough signatures to even appear on Ohio’s primary ballot.

Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker whose once-moribund presidential campaign has been resurrected in the polls in recent weeks, already missed the deadline for Missouri’s ballot. With several other state deadlines looming this month, his campaign is showing growing pains as it strives to meet them.

Karl Rove explains why getting on each of the state ballots matters: 

Organization truly matters, especially in low-turnout caucuses. Four years ago, for example, 118,917 Republicans turned out in Iowa—and only 424 votes separated the third- and fourth-place finishers. The total turnout was considerably less than the 229,732 Iowans who voted in the GOP primary for governor two years later. Being organized in all 99 Iowa counties means more people can be dragged to caucus meetings who might otherwise stay home on a wintery eve, believing their vote doesn't matter.

The reason why Newt Gingrich is having difficulty getting on these state ballots is for a few reasons. One of those reason is that his campaign doesn't have a real game plan for winning: 

Mr. Gingrich’s critics say a focus on the big picture at the expense of details is typical for the Georgia Republican.

“Newt said he was running a fly-by-night operation, which fits in perfectly with his operation,” said GOP strategist John Feehery, who worked for Mr. Gingrich’s successor, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois. “Fly-by-night operations rarely work in presidential campaigns.”

Mr. Feehery was referring to a comment Mr. Gingrich made earlier this week when he said of his campaign, “We certainly fly by the seat of the pants.”

Another reason why Gingrich campaign is in trouble is because they don't have organizational structure needed to follow the various state guidelines for getting on the state ballot. In other words, Newt may not have enough staff or volunteers to do the necessary steps to file in that state's primaries. 

Finally, Newt's problem is that he still struggling to pay back the debt he created in the early days of the 2012 election.

Even as he surges ahead in the polls, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is struggling to get out from under a mountain of debt from luxury jets and other pricey expenses racked up in the early weeks of his campaign.

Creditors say Gingrich has begun paying back nearly $1.2 million in bills he owed at the end of September, and his spokesman says most will be taken care of by the end of the year. Other debts — including $42,000 owed to Gingrich himself for the campaign’s use of a mailing list — have already been paid, ahead of those owed to other vendors, according to aides and disclosure records.

The debt puts Gingrich further behind in his ability to match opponents’ spending in early-voting states, where he has just started to pay for advertising and is scrambling to catch up on staffing. He has been forced to scrimp on even basic expenses for much of the campaign and has only recently been able to expand his office presence in Iowa and South Carolina.

Although campaigns often operate in the red, Gingrich’s debts are unusually high — he spent nearly $3 for every $2 he raised. Mitt Romney, by contrast, reported no debt last quarter.

If we want a candidate who can defeat Obama, we can't have a candidate who is playing catch up on paying his debts. If Newt gets elected, he will be no match for Obama when it comes to campaign funds because he will he will have to focusing on paying off his debts before he can go after Barak Obama. We do have the luxury of voting for a candidate who is trying to establish an organizational structure in time to get on the ballot or has a laid back, fly by the seats of their pants, approach to running a campaign. For 2012, the American people cannot afford to wait for a candidate who is scrambling at the last minute in order to take on Obama. 

We need a candidate who is ready right now to take on President Obama. America is ready to give Obama the boot in 2012 and they want a candidate who is 100% ready to do it and can do it right now. That candidate is Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney has no campaign debts. He has plenty of campaign cash on hand to support his 50 state wide campaign organization and can remain competitive in against Obama who has a massive war chest of his own. 

Don't wait for Newt to get his act together so that he can take on Obama. If he's not ready to take Obama at this very moment, he's not ready or fit to win the GOP nomination or be President. 

America needs Mitt Romney. Right now.