http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2...is-scheduling/
Gingrich’s Flashy New Endorsement Is Not to Be
By TRIP GABRIEL
Max Whittaker for The New York Times
Newt Gingrich speaking with reporters at a campaign event at the Great Basin Brewing Company in Reno, Nev., on Wednesday.
10:37 a.m. | Updated RENO, Nev. — Newt Gingrich swept into Nevada on Wednesday trailing far behind Mitt Romney in state polls and lacking much campaign organization, but his aides were ready to boast of a flashy new endorsement: Donald Trump was supposed to announce his support of Mr. Gingrich on Thursday in Las Vegas, according to a senior campaign official.
But today came word that Mr. Trump – at least for now – was preparing to endorse Mitt Romney.
The confusion may reinforce impressions of disarray in the Gingrich campaign in Nevada, evident as the candidate hit the ground after a daunting defeat in the Florida primary and immediately became embroiled in a dust-up over a canceled meeting with Nevada’s governor.
Mr. Gingrich said he scratched the meeting with Gov. Brian Sandoval in Carson City on Wednesday because it conflicted with a rally at a Reno brew pub, where he arrived at 1:30 p.m. to meet a boisterous, tightly packed crowd of supporters.
Mr. Sandoval’s office, however, said the meeting was supposed to take place at 11:30 a.m. at a location about a 40-minute drive from the brew pub, suggesting that Mr. Gingrich could easily have made both engagements.
The Gingrich campaign’s planning has been in flux here, suggesting disorganization, or perhaps the fact that the real reason he is focusing on the state, where Mitt Romney holds a substantial lead in polls, is to raise money. The casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who lives in Las Vegas has already contributed $10 million with his wife to a “super PAC” supporting Mr. Gingrich. In October Mr. Adelson attended a fund-raiser at a restaurant owned by a former business associate, George Harris, who is the host of a fund-raiser on Thursday, for which about 100 people are expected.
The campaign has been slow to announce other public events in the state.
Asked by reporters if he was conceding Nevada, which caucuses on Saturday, Mr. Gingrich said no, emphatically. “I think if you look at the event we just had, it doesn’t look like we’re giving up on anything,” he said.
The crowd of more than 150 at the Great Basin Brewing Company was enthusiastic, breaking into chants of “Newt! Newt!’’ as Mr. Gingrich delivered his stump speech.
He began with a sharp response to comments Mr. Romney made earlier in the day, in which he said he would focus his policies on the middle class because the poor were taken care of by a safety net of government programs.
“I am fed up with politicians of either party dividing Americans against each other,’’ Mr. Gingrich said. “I am running to be the president of all the American people and I am concerned about all the American people.’’
Mr. Gingrich was also asked about Mr. Romney’s comment that Mr. Gingrich lost in Florida because voters were unhappy about his work for Freddie Mac, the government mortgage giant that many Republicans believe is responsible for the collapse of the housing market, an issue that will also play in Nevada.
Mr. Romney had said, “I think his association over the last 15 years selling influence in Washington is a major reason why people are not comfortable with him becoming our nominee.’’
Mr. Gingrich said that Mr. Romney “owns a lot of stock in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae” and that the remark “shows remarkable ability to deny reality.’’
It is a line of attack that Mr. Gingrich developed in Florida, but it seemed to make little impression on voters, especially after Mr. Romney pointed out, in a debate, that Mr. Gingrich, too, had similar investments.
Mr. Gingrich might well wish that the contest be a war of words in the news media. He has almost none of the infrastructure and support from prominent state Republicans that Mr. Romney do
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