Is Newt Gingrich The Tea Party Candidate?

Newt Gingrich won 45% of the vote in the Florida primary from voters who identify themselves as strong supporters of the tea party, Whereas Mitt Romney received only 33% and Rick Santorum received only 17%.  Herman Cain and notable tea party politician Sarah Palin have recently endorsed Newt Gingrich in his run for the presidency.  Gingrich also has the support of 300 tea party groups, including 47 in Florida. It is still unclear whether or not Newt is the definitive tea party candidate.  The tea party is too undefinable, subjective on issues, to declare one person as the definitive representative in the presidential race.  The embrace of Gingrich as the tea party candidate could be described as lackluster.  If Gingrich wants his campaign for the presidency to continue into August as he has declared it will, he will need to rally his tea party supporters in the upcoming southern state primaries.  It’s going to be difficult for Gingrich to gain momentum on the grounds that only a few states will be holding primaries in the next few upcoming weeks. Nevertheless if the Gingrich campaign can survive until “Super Tuesday” (March 6^th, 2012, A day when a large number of states are holding their primary elections) he could swing the momentum against current frontrunner Mitt Romney.  When asked if he represented the tea party, Gingrich ignored the question.  Contrarily, Gingrich's campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond didn't miss a beat when asked the same question by the Huffington post. “Damn straight we are, I don't think there's any question.” Said Hammond,  "If the Tea Party started with fiscal issues and keeping government spending down, Gingrich is the parent of the balanced budget. But beyond that, the Tea Party looks for candidates who are willing to challenge the status quo in Washington. Nobody challenges the status quo more than Newt." Hammond then noted that Newt has not received overwhelming tea party support  "It's something that Tea Party organizations need to come forward organically and do," Implying that the tea party does support Newt, but they aren't all so enthusiastic as to make their way to the polls and rallies.   An officer of a tea party group in South Carolina who also voted for Gingrich said that no one is really wildly enthusiastic about any of the candidates, and that the tea party's real influence will be seen in the general election in November.  His statement proved true at the Florida primary, where 39 percent of republican voters said they were not satisfied with their choice of candidates.  Allen Olson, the former chairman of South Carolina's Columbia Tea Party chapter was asked if Gingrich was the tea party candidate. He answered “Yes, but since he's the only one who threw his hat in the ring, people are starting to see him as a Tea Party candidate."  Ryan Hecker, who works for a national group called Freedom Works said “If Newt was actually coalescing most Tea Party support, he would have the nomination wrapped up, any strong Tea Party candidate would destroy Romney. Unfortunately, all such candidates chose not to run." Ryan Rhodes, an activist in Iowa, has expressed his belief that no candidate running is ideal.  Many republican voters would prefer that other popular tea party politicians such as Chris Christie or Jim DeMint would have joined the race.  Bob Mcguffe, who helps run a group in Connecticut known as Right Principles, is pragmatic about the situation, and his group have endorsed Gingrich as the nominee. Although Most republican's, especially tea party members, see any of the current republican candidates as superior to Obama, Macguffe notes Gingrich has his flaws  “Gingrich has betrayed his "conservative rhetoric" for "political purposes, his well-known lack of self-discipline, sometimes overbearing personality and personal baggage" as things that will be "pounced upon" by President Barack Obama in a general election.”  Jenny Beth Martin, A co-founder of the nation group Tea Party Patriots, said Newt's victory in the South Carolina primary was a victory for the tea party in general. 

Article Summarized: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/newt-gingrich-tea-party_n_1244564.html