Gingrich Campaign Press Release - Newt Steals Show at Iowa Forum

Originally posted on AmesPatch.com

By Jessica Miller

At the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition's presidential candidate forum, Newt stole the show from the other candidates in attendance. Watch the video of Newt's speech here.

In a night that had been chugging along predictably at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition's presidential candidate forum, suddenly a surprise was born: Newt Gingrich stole the show.

With the exception of Mitt Romney, all of the major candidates for the Republican nomination were at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, each taking the podium individually for brief speeches and then a few questions.

Herman Cain spoke first. Then Michele Bachmann, followed by Rick Perry.

A nice greeting for all of them, of course. And about half of the 800 people in attendance stood and applauded as those candidates left the stage.

But then came Gingrich.

President Obama has driven the country into a ditch, the former Speaker of the House said, and the economy is weakening the country in every possible way.

"The process of recovering economically is not that difficult," Gingrich told the crowd. "On election night, when it's clear Barack Obama has been defeated, the recovery will begin." (Cheers.)

Later, he attacked "liberal, activist" judges for keeping abortion legal. (Louder cheers.)

Then, he promised that his first signed executive order as president would be to eliminate all White House czars. (Even louder cheers.)

And, as he left the stage, Gingrich implored the crowd not to be for him, but with him, because "we have eight hard years ahead of us!" (The loudest applause and cheers of the evening.)

"I'm not surprised," Gingrich told Patch following the event. "I think any time I have a chance to present unedited, it's effective. … This is a pretty sophisticated crowd. They don't just want a slogan or an opinion; they want to know you can get it done.

Tamara Scott of Norwalk said she hadn't settled on a candidate heading into the event, and is still not sure. But she had praise for Gingrich's comments.

"He brought the house down," Scott said. "You cannot deny his political expertise. I think this forum was beneficial for all the candidates because they didn't have to face reporters' gotcha questions."

The Faith & Freedom Coalition's fall banquet, as it was called, was a chance for all of the presidential candidates to try to swing the valuable evangelical Christian vote in Iowa their way.

Cain, Bachmann, Perry, Paul and Santorum were all treated respectfully and, at times, even enthusiastically.

...

But Gingrich, who has been struggling in national polls – and in Iowa – was the only candidate who seemed to capture the passion of a normally impassioned group, and the clout of the Christian right in Iowa is substantial.

Just look to the 2008 election: That's the one in which Romney won the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, only to lose the caucuses when Mike Huckabee galvanized religious conservatives and won.

O.Kay Henderson also wrote on Newt's successful night at okhenderson.com:

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is the fourth candidate to speak tonight at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition event, and the crowd seemed very engaged by his remarks.

Gingrich repeated his call for seven, three-hour-long debates with President Obama. "To be fair, I would agree that he can use a teleprompter," Gingrich joked. The crowd laughed and applauded. "After all, if you had to spend an entire three-hour debate defending ObamaCare, wouldn't you want to have the help of a teleprompter?"

When asked about "abortion on demand" Gingrich referred to a policy paper at www.newt.org about the judiciary and "activist" judges.

As one of the hosts of the event posed his question (in the same way he has to the previous candidates), Gingrich joked he had heard the question before. There was laughter. State Senator Jerry Behn, the fellow asking questions on behalf of the Iowa Energy Forum, offered up an apology, said he was just trying to be fair to the candidates.

"You're not some news guy," Gingrich quipped.

Gingrich got a huge response from the crowd at the end of his remarks.