Schmidt: GOP Establishment Will Have A Meltdown If Newt Wins Florida

Real Clear Politics

(video at source)

Schmidt: "Not only are we not moving toward a coalescing of support with the establishment of Newt Gingrich, we're probably moving toward a declaration of war on Newt Gingrich by the Republican establishment. And if Newt Gingrich is able to win the Florida primary, you will see a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language. People will go crazy,"

And you will have this five week period until the Super Tuesday states that will be just as unpredictable, tumultuous as any period in modern American politics. It will be a remarkable thing to watch, should that happen in Florida."

Maddow: "Is there a component of that which is building a firewall around Mitt Romney, protecting him? We saw the establishment try to do that and Romney helping, saying “You can’t talk any smack about Bain. Bain is what I want to run on, it has to be positive, don’t undercut that at all.” Which to me, was like a flashing red neon arrow, “here’s my glass jaw, please don’t hit it.” Is there a way to protect Mitt Romney other than, I think, this wrong approach, Ithey’ve taken with Bain."

Schmidt: "I think everybody in the establishment Republican circles in Washington D.C. is fixated on the numbers we talked about earlier. Newt Gingrich has a 100% name ID, has a 60% national unfavorable number and it’s a number so high that with the 100% name ID it’s impossible to come back from. You’re not electable in a general election, in a 2012 presidential election if your unfavorable numbers are that high. Particularly against a president, that while vulnerable, is still a net positive in that number.

So people look at Newt Gingrich and don’t see him as a plausible candidate in the general election, so the Republican establishment who thinks that the president is vulnerable and beatable is going to begin to melt down if Gingrich’s momentum continues.

Also something important to remember there are 33 House Republicans in districts that Barack Obama won. What is the impact in terms of Republicans being able to keep the House of Representatives in majority control if Newt Gingrich was the nominee of the party? What is the impact in the United State Senate races where Republicans have a great chance of taking majority control of the United States Senate. With Newt Gingrich as the nominee of the party, that is, perhaps, all up in the air."

Source: Schmidt: GOP Establishment Will Have A Meltdown If Gingrich Wins Florida | RealClearPolitics