Gingrich makes a play for Tennessee

Ahead in the polls in his home state of Georgia, Newt Gingrich is betting Tennessee can help revive his dusty campaign.

The former House speaker is investing both time and money there, hoping a Super Tuesday victory in the Volunteer state can propel him to victory in other Southern states that follow.

After winning just one Republican presidential primary so far -- the South Carolina contest in January - Gingrich has said he must win his home state of Georgia in order to remain a viable candidate. That's an easy hurdle to set up for himself: he's leading by double digits according to recent polls.

Gingrich is also hoping his plan to lower gas prices will help him get votes.

His campaign today began airing an ad in Tennessee slamming President Obama for high gas prices and touting his proposal to bring gas prices down to $2.50 per gallon.

"The Gingrich two-fifty plan slashes gas prices by increasing domestic production, opening up off-shore drilling, building the Keystone Pipeline, cutting red-tape regulation," a narrator says in the 30-second spot. "The Gingrich two-fifty plan stops the great gas hold up...and puts money back in your pocket."

While Gingrich is aiming to build support in the South, Tennessee still presents a challenge for him. A new American Research Group poll, conducted March 1-3, puts Gingrich in third place there with 20 percent. Former Sen. Rick Santorum leads with 35 percent while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney takes 31 percent. Gingrich outperforms Romney among Tea Party supporters, 30 percent to 17 percent -- but they both trail Santorum, who has 43 percent support among that group.

Some other recent polls suggest the race could be tighter between Santorum, Romney and Gingrich in the state. While Gingrich is visiting Tennessee today, both Santorum and Romney were there over the weekend.

"I don't know if we can win Georgia or Tennessee, but I know we can take delegates out of there," Romney senior adviser Eric Ferhnstrom told reporters.

Should Gingrich manage to win both Georgia and Tennessee on Tuesday, he could carry that momentum into the Alabama and Mississippi contests next week. His campaign plans to air the ad in Alabama and Mississippi later this week.

And even if he loses Tennessee, Gingrich could still take his campaign all the way to the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August. A victory in Georgia, Gingrich told CBS News' Phil Hirschkorn, would say to the nation, "I'm in the race to stay."

[sharkboy234]

Rick Santorum is in it to win it in tennessee if mitt romney get 7 states he the winner! and this could be over!!!

[johnfwilhite]

Rick Santorum with Congressman Allen West for VP
I understand that there is concern that Santorum focuses too much on social issues and not enough on jobs and fiscal issues. Anyone who saw Huckabee's Fox News Forum on jobs will know that Santorum has correct and workable solutions to job creation, energy, and other issues. We need full-spectrum conservatives like Rick Santorum and Congressman Allen West, not one-dimensional "I can fix the economy" candidates as is the case with the other three in the race.
The other candidates may very well correct the economic and some other disasters created by Obama but the root causes of those detrimental policies will remain and will return the next time a Democrat or moderate/liberal Republican is in office.
Santorum offers the real possibility that the principle causes of all that ails America will be rectified with a focus on social issues. "Social issues" is just a euphemism for the Judeo-Christian principles intended by the Founding Fathers to be the immutable foundation for this nation. The moral codes, ethical standards, and positive virtues that defined America have been severely eroded since Kennedy misconstrued Jefferson's comment on "the separation of church and state" creating the instability, insecurity, and misdirection on all other fronts--the economy, jobs, energy, international conflicts, crime, illegal immigration, entitlements, bailouts, infringements on the Constitution, and many more.
If Santorum and a potential vice presidential candidate such as Allen West are elected and can restore Judeo-Christian foundational principles (the "social issues") the other areas will fall into place as Santorum works to repeal and replace Obama's disastrous legislation and policies . Moral turpitude, ethical standards, and virtue on Wall Street mean a return to corporate honesty, fair play, and the common good; in business, "an honest wage for an honest day's work;" and in society, personal responsibility, industriousness, marriage, family, community, and nation. Neither Santorum nor anyone else intends to impose his religion or any religion, much less a particular denomination, on the government, the economic sector, society, education, and certainly not individuals. Striving to achieve a government and society functioning under some basic moral principles for the common good is a far cry from "imposing religion" on anyone.
But can he beat Obama? Absolutely, if everyone understands what's at stake and fights for it. The other candidates offer a temporary fix to be reversed by Democrats in the near future. Santorum offers a more permanent solution. If Kennedy's legacy of "confine your morality to inside your houses of worship and keep it out of government and society" can last 50 years, Santorum (and West?) could establish a 50-year legacy of Judeo-Christian principles guiding government and society toward the common good, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the Founding Fathers intended.
Note: View Congressman Allen West's speeches on YouTube and check out the legislation he has worked on at his congressional web site.