Gingrich campaign to traveling press: Find your own damn ride
For each caucus or primary during the 2012 presidential campaign, Gingrich's campaign has organized transportation for the reporters assigned to cover him--as is customary for nearly every presidential candidate. Each news outlet chips in to pay for the bus that trails Gingrich between each stop, and the campaign often lets reporters pay for a seat on charter flights for longer journeys. Many times, it's the only way to ensure the national media are with him at each public appearance.
Sitting in the back of the bus that day, the penny pinching press got to thinking: Why should their employers drop two grand just to attend one Gingrich event when the reporters could easily rent a cheap car in Orlando, miss the dinner, and meet up with Gingrich in Tampa the next morning? That made a lot more financial sense.
Then, the campaign dropped a bomb: No reporters would be allowed to fly with Gingrich on his campaign swing on Monday, when his schedule calls for more than 1,000 miles of travel, complete with campaign stops from the panhandle near the Alabama border to Miami.
Also, the press was no longer invited to fly with Gingrich to the next contest in Nevada, which will hold its Republican caucuses on Feb. 4.
No one from Gingrich's campaign would say on the record why the reporters were no longer invited to travel with the candidate.
"I don't have to give you a reason," R.C. Hammond, a Gingrich spokesman, said.
Way to go Newt. Piss off the press while you're running for POTUS. That's about the stupidest thing you've ever done.
You just handed the nomination to Romney.....