Arch-Republicans behind 'Draft Newt' campaign

A press release was issued today by a new organization called Draft Newt -- "to urge Newt Gingrich to run for the Republican Presidential nomination."

Newt Gingrich has said he will run only as a "last resort." To me that meant that he wanted a front organization -- like this one -- so he wouldn't have to follow campaigning rules. They raise and spend money in Gingrich's name, secretly directed by the candidate's agents, while the disgraced, ethics-challenged former House Speaker sits at his master control panel and speaks at Republican banquets. Now the organization has emerged, only days after Gingrich's demurral.

Who's behind this so-called grass roots group? A publicist named David W. Kralik, who I'm supposing must be the same David W. Kralik who is a Manager, Internet Programs & Web Content Editor at the National Association of Manufacturers, a pro-business lobbying group.

Kralik is apparently an old hand at propping up Republican icons, as a Google search shows he has been the director of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project in Washington, D.C., a group that was founded by Americans for Tax Reform, one of the many projects of hydra-headed arch-conservative Grover Norquist.

So you can bet it's Norquist, ultimately, behind this "draft Newt" con. That's what they mean when they say "grass roots."

Previously:
Newt Gingrich Can't Keep Pants Buttoned, Wants to Be President

Update: Kralik has also been identified as a former Gingrich staffer.