US Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is dramatically curtailing his campaign schedule, laying off about a third of his staff and dismissing his campaign manager as he focuses on a last-ditch effort to win the Republican nomination at the party’s convention.
Gingrich’s strategy hinges on preventing the front-runner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, from winning the 1,144 delegates he needs for the nomination, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said on Tuesday night. The former speaker of the House of Representatives plans to spend much less time in primary states and instead personally call delegates to try to persuade them to back him at the Republican National Convention in August.
Ultimately, Gingrich would take the fight to the convention floor, Hammond said.
The new strategy doesn’t change Gingrich’s promise to support Romney if Romney collects the necessary delegates before the party convenes in Tampa, Florida, in late August to choose its nominee, Hammond said.
Meanwhile, Gingrich planned to shift the campaign’s focus to digital outreach — in particular Twitter, YouTube and other social media.
Gingrich’s campaign manager, Michael Krull, was asked to resign. Hammond and campaign communications director Joe DeSantis will remain with the campaign. Both have been working for Gingrich for more than a year, even as a group of consultants quit the campaign last summer.
The rollback in the campaign comes after Gingrich listed more than US$1.5 million in outstanding debt by the end of last month, according to US Federal Election Commission filings, including legal fees and advertising production costs. At the same time, he had about US$1.5 million cash on hand, the lowest of the four Republican candidates.
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