Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum will join TV war in Georgia

We told you last night that GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum will make his first post-surge appearance in Georgia on Sunday. This morning, The Hill newspaper in D.C. reports that Santorum has included this state in a first round of TV ads – to match frontrunner Mitt Romney:

The campaign is making the purchases in Arizona, which votes Feb. 28., and in Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahhoma — all Super Tuesday states except for Arizona — according to Santorum senior campaign adviser John Brabender. The campaign did not disclose any more details about the ads, such as the cost or exact markets where they will air.

Another sign that Santorum will present a full-court press on Super Tuesday: The Times-Free Press today reports that the former Pennsylvania senator will be the headliner at a Chattanooga tea party gathering. A recent poll has Santorum leading in that state.

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Meanwhile, financially pinched Newt Gingrich – or at least, his affiliated super PAC — this morning is sticking to radio, attempting to drive talk radio listeners to a new web site, Time to Choose, that takes this slap at Mitt Romney:

“There’s a battle going on between the establishment minority, and the conservative majority. Between the GOP establishment that wants to protect its own power at all costs. And the conservative majority that wants power returned to the people.

“The establishment minority wants us to hold our noses and vote for the Massachusetts moderate. They tell us he is the best man to beat President Obama. They tell us he is the best we can do.”

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Maybe it’s just because it’s February, which makes everyone a little short-tempered – but if you’re Newt Gingrich, you know you’ve got a problem when the Washington Post declares you ‘the most disliked politician in America:

A CNN/Opinion Research poll on Monday showed 63 percent of All Americans viewed Gingrich unfavorably, compared to just 25 percent who saw him in a positive light.

And [Wednesday], a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows a similar split: 54 percent view Gingrich unfavorably, compared to 16 percent who say they feel positively predisposed towards him.

The spread between his favorable and unfavorable rankings tie Gingrich’s worst numbers from his reign as U.S. House speaker.

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Even former Newt Gingrich strategist Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage is a bit sour. From his TownHall.com column:

[I]f he and his separate super PAC don’t get their separate efforts under control, Super Tuesday could be a “Super Disaster” for Gingrich.

So what is a fading speaker to do? Newt needs to take what money he has left, ditch the plane and the policy wonks, choose one pre-Super Tuesday primary and attack Romney and Santorum with everything he has. The “Good Newt” strategy has proved to be a bust. No one wants good this year. He can’t compete in Michigan because the other two major candidates have resource and natural-base advantages. Furthermore, since he is lagging in the polls, Romney will be forced to go all-out so as not to be embarrassed in one of his “home states.”

Newt must be wondering what happened to all the money in his super PAC. The PAC was overwhelmed by Romney television ads in Florida, and reportedly, it wasted huge amounts on radio in the Sunshine State, while Gingrich was being savaged by Romney on TV. And remember, folks, TV always trumps (no pun intended) radio.

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The February pessimism of Kerwin Swint, the Kennesaw State University political scientist, is more expansive. From his website:

Republicans wanted this to be a rerun of 1980, when Jimmy Carter was shown the door by the voters. In fact, ever since Barack Obama has been in office, some have referred to it as Jimmy Carter’s second term. And for a while there was some logic to that.

But instead of 1980, it may be starting to resemble 1996. Mr. Obama is even starting to sound a little like Bill Clinton, talking about hiring 100,000 new teachers. Next comes more cops on the street and school uniforms. And just as with Clinton, the economy may have turned a corner in time to save him. We’ll see. But more importantly, the GOP looks like they’re blowing it.

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Today’s print column is a look at the Newt Gingrich campaign’s effort to push Callista Gingrich to the front of the stage. She’ll have at least one solo appearance in Atlanta during the campaign’s swing through the state this weekend – 11:30 a.m. at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswel Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305.

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My AJC colleague Aaron Sheinin reports that the March 1 debate of GOP presidential candidates hosted by the Georgia and Ohio Republican parties and CNN will take place at the that the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta.

It’s a fitting locale. Before it was rescued, the battered old theater was the place to go for bad kung fu double features.

Other candidates have yet to commit, but Newt Gingrich’s schedule is already building around the event. He’ll address the Cobb Chamber that morning at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Register for tickets here.

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Former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin is celebrating the first anniversary of her website, Blogging While Blue, with a series of video retrospectives on the late Maynard Jackson. Here’s her intro:

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Finally, Walter Jones of Morris News Service offers this possible change in Georgia’s landscape:

The site of a paper mill that has gone bankrupt could provide Georgia a third ocean port, Coastal lawmakers learned Wednesday.

Camden County Development Authority Executive Director David Keating said for $12 million, the state could grab a new economic-development engine. He hasn’t projected the potential, but the port of Savannah, for instance, has an economic impact of more than $27 billion and is credited with 300,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“It was incumbent upon us, being good Georgia citizens, to make sure the state was aware of this before it slips away,” he said.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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