Politics

Newt brings out the waterworks on the campaign trail [VIDEO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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In 2008 some observers speculated that then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s tears on the campaign trail propelled her to a New Hampshire primary win. Could that work for Newt Gingrich, who finds himself falling behind in next week’s Iowa caucuses?

In a Friday interview that aired live on C-SPAN, Gingrich teared up talking about his mother and how she impacted his policy positions. He also offered the rationale for his campagin emphasis on brain science.

A partial transcript:

First of all, you will get me all teary-eyed. Callista will tell you I get teary-eyed every time we sing Christmas carols. Yes I do — excuse me. My mother sang in the choir and loved singing in the choir. And I don’t know if I should admit this: When I was young she made me sing in the choir, and we had pictures of me at an early age singing in the choir. But I identify my mother with being happy, loving life, having a sense of joy in her friends.

But what she introduced me to — it was late in her life, she ended up in a long-term care facility. She had bipolar disease and depression and she gradually acquired some physical ailments. And that introduced me to the whole issue of quality long-term care, which I did with Bob Kerrey, and then that introduced me Alzheimer’s , which I did with Bob Kerrey for three more years to Alzheimer’s, which I did for three more years, and my whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly in dealing with … the real problems of real people in my family. So this is not a theory. This is, in fact, my mother.

Watch:

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