Is Newt the new McCain?

Today Rasmussen Reports released their latest poll for the GOP primary nomination and it shows Cain at 26%, Romney at 23%, Gingrich at 14%, Perry at 8% and Paul at 7% with the rest of the field in low single digits. The poll was conducted on November 2nd just before the Herman Cain sexual harassment had taken full control of the political news cycle. Gingrich surging to a solid 3rd shows that he will likely take the position of the anti-Romney frontrunner once the Cain debacle begins to appear in future polling data.

In the current primary election cycle for the GOP there are three clearly divided camps that are fluctuating slightly as the Iowa caucuses approach. It looks as though Newt Gingrich will be the next winner in the anybody but Mitt Romney conservative sweepstakes, the voting block that is currently made up of the 50 and up Tea Party fiscal conservatives.

It makes sense that Newt Gingrich may be the final candidate to have his chance to surge leading up to the primaries. Gingrich has already been in the public eye for over 20 years and any vetting that is done of him will likely have less to do with his personal/private life and more to do with his political record. Gingrich is up to the task of defending his record in the Congress.

So far in this cycle Gingrich is playing the role that McCain played in the 08 cycle. Both had their difficulties toward the end of the summer with very little campaign cash on hand. But neither of them need much cash in the early part of the process because they already have great name recognition which is half the battle for candidates like Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann.

Gingrich was written off early as a candidate that was simply looking to run in order to eventually be able to increase fees for speaking engagements and rake in cash from book sales and perhaps even land a cushy tv gig a la Mike Huckabee or Sarah Palin. In retrospect Palin is looking like a genius by being able to milk her 2 months as a national candidate for millions of dollars without having to put herself or her family through it again.

Gingrich gives a great debate performance and has the ability to raise cash and assemble a solid, smart campaign staff, so there is no question he will be a contender for the remainder of the contest.