Gingrich, missing applause, demands audience participation at debates

[Liberal_in_LA]

Gingrich, missing applause, demands audience participation at debates
By Michael O'Brien, msnbc.com

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich helped revive his campaign -- twice -- with strong performances in GOP presidential debates.

The self-styled intellectual of the campaign, Gingrich has relied on expressions of support from debate audiences to convey strength in the gatherings, tossing red meat to the conservative audiences with attacks on the media and his Republican rivals.

And that helps explain why Gingrich, whose performance at a Monday night debate in Florida seemed subdued compared to recent appearances, is now threatening to skip any debate in which the audience is barred from participating.
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"I wish, in retrospect, I protested when Brian Williams took them out of it, because I think it's wrong," Gingrich said this morning on Fox News, referring to the NBC Nightly News anchor, who moderated the bulk of the debate. "And I think he took them out of it because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they've done in every debate."

Gingrich vowed to "serve notice" on future debate appearances, insisting that audiences be allowed to express support or opposition to candidates' answers. (A spokesman said Tuesday afternoon that Gingrich intended to attend all the debates, but would certainly protest rules barring audience participation.)

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10226097-gingrich-missing-applause-demands-audience-participation-at-debates

[NAO]

1. Gingrich works the live audience and feeds off their reactions

He like to throw the gasoline of resentment on the fire. The cheers when he lashed out at the moderators, IMHO, are the primary driving force behind his surge in SC

[Justice wanted]

2. OMG talk about ego stroking!

[Scuba]

3. Maybe he could bring a CD player and some canned applause.

[csziggy]

4. He reminds me a of psychic who is not getting the clues from their vicitm's responses

One of the debunking shows had a psychic on and the person being "read" was told ahead of time to give no response at all to any of the psychic's guesses. By 90 seconds into the "reading" the psychic was completely flustered. They were used to getting confirmation and feedback so they could build on their original blind guesses.

After five minutes, the psychic gave up. They couldn't perform if their victim did not give them the needed information to continue.

Newt is a political psychic. He has no real beliefs of his own, he has to guess from the audience reaction what his followers want him to do. Without that feedback, he knows he will guess wrong - and he won't have a way to tell which guesses are wrong without instantaneous feedback for each one.

[Pab Sungenis]

5. "If you're racist and you know it, clap your hands...."

Everybody sing!

[Lionessa]

6. I don't think it's only that he wants the applause, I think it's also

because the outrageously weird, disgusting applause and jeers and boos throw the other debaters off their game. Instead of saying what they intended, they start trying to ad-lib/alter their positions and talking points to appease the audience and end up stumbling. So it's really a double whammy in his favor when the crowd acts like the kind of nutjobs who'd pay to watch a Republican debate in person.

[JaneQPublic]

7. Newt's choice for next moderator: Jerry Springer (nt)

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. He should be forced to have Dubya as a cheerleader

so the cameras can cut to him, and remind people just how crappy Republican presidents are.

[DCBob]

9. What he misses is the WWF/NASCAR crowd he had in SC.

Those morons would cheer anything he said as long as it sounded angry and mean.