EXCELLENT NEWS!

A number of senior aides have resigned from the presidential campaign team of Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"The news will hit Mr Gingrich's hopes of being the Republican nominee to challenge Barack Obama in 2012.


His campaign got off to a halting start when he criticised a plan popular among Republicans to slash and privatise a healthcare programme for the elderly.

Staff were also reportedly concerned after he took a recent holiday cruise.

Mr Gingrich's campaign manager Rob Johnson and his entire senior staff, including strategists in early primary election states, quit on Thursday.

"When the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path, they've got to part ways," said Rick Tyler a longtime Gingrich spokesman, was quoted by the Washington Post newspaper as saying.

With the Republican primary campaign beginning to take shape, the lack of a core team could seriously hinder Mr Gingrich's chances at winning the Republican nomination, analysts say."

Reuters/Ipsos Poll: Sarah Palin Leads Mitt Romney, but Obama Beats GOP Field

"While Republicans are neck and neck, poll finds president holds double-digit lead


A poll released by Reuters/Ipsos Wednesday shows that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a slight lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the race for the Republican nomination for president -- but the Democratic incumbent Barack Obama has a solid lead over every one of the Republican challengers."

Palin, Bachmann Camps Feud Over Who Gets To Be Defined As A 'Serious' Candidate

"Surrogates from the camps of Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin have been a-feudin' this week, because newly-minted Bachmann consigliere Ed Rollins went on the radio and said that Palin "has not been serious over the last couple of years." Which, relative to Bachmann, who has an actual job in politics and is mounting a presidential campaign, is fairly objectively true. But Rollins caught flak for the statement, and yesterday, did one of those limited walk-backs where he apologized for overstepping while simultaneously scoffing at the Palinistas' demand for a "retraction."

Hate Group Touts That Drudge Report ‘Resembles’ Their Website

"Last week, conservative mega-aggregator the Drudge Report caught flack for posting “a slew of run-of-the-mill summer crime stories that happen to involve black people and suggestively weav[ing] them into a nationwide race riot.” Drudge posted 10 separate headlines — including a massive, above-the-logo one — about this supposed violent “urban” crime wave. Meanwhile, crime is at a 40-year low. But it wasn’t just the left that noticed. This week, the white nationalist hate group the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) gleefully reported that the “Drudge Report currently resembles CofCC.org.” What is the CCC? A group that opposes interracial marriage, describes black people as “a retrograde species of humanity,” and networks with racist skinheads. “Kudos to Drudge for making friends in low places,” the Southern Poverty Law Center quips."

And finally:

‘Michigan Message To Mitt’: GOP Rep. McCotter Slams Romney For Not Supporting Auto Rescue

"GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is in the state of his birth this week — and receiving an icy reception. Michigan is home to General Motors and Chrysler, two U.S. companies for which the 2009 auto rescue “was seen as a matter of life or death by both parties.” Romney, however, opted for death when the Motor City native penned a op-ed entitled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” and slammed the rescue as “tragic.” This supposed tragedy, however, allowed Chrysler and GM to restructure and repay over $60 billion in taxpayer loans and add about 50,000 jobs nationwide.

As is his nature, Romney quickly switched positions in light of the rescue’s success and actually claimed last month that he “had the idea first.” However, Michiganders are not buying it. Rep. John Dingell (D) said yesterday that he hopes Romney “has answers for Michigan’s working families he abandoned two years ago” and “threw them under the bus.” Former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm offered a pithier take in her own op-ed titled, “Let Mitt Romney Go Bankrupt.” Now, even Michigan Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter is wiping his hands of Romney. McCotter, who “supported the government intervention for General Motors and Chrysler,” sent “a Michigan message to Mitt” on his auto failure:



“Motor City hospitality dictates a Michigan message to Mitt that our struggling families, entrepreneurs and workers think Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are not rivals, they’re running mates,” McCotter, who is considering his own run for the White House, said in a statement."