How Gingrich Blew His Second Chance

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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January 02, 2012

How Gingrich Blew His Second Chance

Jonathan Martin looks at how Newt Gingrich "learned all the wrong lessons from his campaign's collapse this summer and none of the right ones from his remarkable comeback."

"Instead of seizing the moment and making an aggressive case for why the contest was now a two-man race between a movement conservative and flip-flopping moderate -- a unique opportunity afforded by the endorsement's implicit-but-unmistakable critique of Mitt Romney in his firewall state -- Gingrich fell back to his familiar habits, a routine marked by too much self-assurance and not enough discipline."

"Between that and some other key factors -- among them, Romney's super PAC blitzkrieg and his own weak fundraising -- a campaign that seemed on the cusp of stealing the nomination barely a month ago now faces an ignominious fourth place finish or worse."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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January 02, 2012