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(Washington Times) By Seth McGlaughlin - has made a point of ridiculing the press during his presidential campaign, but he actually owes the media a debt of gratitude. Without the free coverage he has received, the money-challenged Gingrich campaign might never have gotten off the ground.
“Free media propelled Herman Cain from nowhere to somewhere and back again. And it resurrected Newt from the ashes,” said Mark McKinnon, vice chairman of Public Strategies Inc., who worked as a media adviser to the presidential candidacies of George W. Bush and John McCain.
Odds are, after stumbling badly out of the gate last summer, Mr. Gingrich would be swimming in a sea of red by now, as his last campaign finance report showed him nearly $1.2 million in debt.
But less than a month before the Iowa caucuses, with polls making him the GOP front-runner nationwide and in three of the first four contest states, the Gingrich campaign says it is raking in cash - roughly $4 million over the first half of the fourth quarter of the campaign filing period.
“There were days in August when we raised $10,000 overnight and we’d be very excited about it,” Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said in an interview this month. “Now we see $10,000 an hour.”
To get that cash spigot flowing, the Georgia Republican made himself a fixture on cable and broadcast television news networks and on the radio talk show circuit. He also took part in a dozen debates - including the nationally televised debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday that attracted almost 7.6 million viewers, making it the most watched event so far of the presidential campaign season.
“Newt Gingrich clearly has benefited from the free media,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. “He took what was an improbable candidacy to being a potential front-runner. He kind of proved himself, or started to remake himself, through this free exposure more than anything else.”
Read full story at WashingtonTimes.com...
