A mass resignation by Newt Gingrich's top staff dealt a potentially fatal blow to the Republican's presidential campaign Thursday.
Already struggling with mixed messages and a backlash by conservative voters, the former House speaker's prospects looked bleaker than ever after his campaign manager and at least six other top advisers and aides abruptly quit.
The Washington Post reported the departures of campaign manager Rob Johnson, senior strategists Dave Carney and Katon Dawson, media consultant Sam Dawson, Iowa strategist Craig Schoenfeld and Georgia-based adviser Scott Rials.
When the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path, theyve got to part ways, said Rick Tyler, a longtime Gingrich spokesman who also bolted.
Gingrich released a statement via Facebook pledging to continue in the race.
I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring, Gingrich wrote. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles.
But with his campaign structure in disarray, Gingrich appears to be an even longer shot in the GOP presidential sweepstakes.
Last month, the speaker elicited a firestorm of criticism for likening the Paul Ryan budget plan to "right-wing extremism." That followed his earlier pronouncements favoring some sort of "individual mandate" for health-care insurance.
Though Gingrich attempted to soften those statements, which put him at odds with the party's conservative base, he was the subject of ongoing attacks by the Wall Street Journal over his support for ethanol subsidies.
The Journal accused Gingrich of pandering to Iowa voters while promoting a policy that expanded government's role in the market and catered to environmentalists.
Although he was elected to the U.S. House from Georgia, the transplant from Pennsylvania never appeared to catch on in Florida, which is maneuvering to be the first large state to conduct a primary.
Gingrich's multiple marriages and his recent conversion to Catholicism raised eyebrows among bedrock conservatives. Tea party groups and others were alternately unimpressed and infuriated by his lukewarm approach to immigration and border enforcement issues.
Financially, Gingrich appeared to be at a growing disadvantage. Having antagonized both the business class and the grass roots, the former congressman had no ready source for cash. With Mitt Romney on track to raise $1 billion and with multimillionaire Jon Huntsman ready to join the fray, it was not clear how Gingrich could compete.
Internally, the Post quoted knowledgeable sources as saying staffers and Gingrich clashed over a two-week vacation that Gingrich and his wife, Callista, insisted upon taking. The vacation raised doubt about the candidate's willingness to "commit time to the grass roots," Tyler said.
Gingrich returned earlier this week and visited New Hampshire but remained largely off the campaign trail, the Post reported.
The resignations by Carney and Johnson, both longtime aides to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, point to Perry's impending jump into the GOP race.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
