KEITH OLBERMANN: While Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum continue to battle their way toward Super Tuesday, Newt Gingrich continues his attempt to keep a hopelessly-sinking campaign afloat and the bus running. Without success.
In our number-one story — it seems Gingrich has his work cut out for him. Not only does he find himself trailing in delegates but, according to a new CNN Research poll, Gingrich now finds himself as possibly the least-popular politician in America.
When asked their overall opinion of him, a staggering 63 percent of registered voters said they had an unfavorable view. This compared to just a month ago, when respondents in the same poll only thought — 58 percent of them only thought he was unfavorable. In other words, the more they get to know Gingrich, the less they like him. The current 38-point spread between his favorable and unfavorable is a new high — or I should say new low — for him during this campaign. Although it merely ties his 1997 number, when he was facing both an ethic investigation and that revolt from inside his own party.
Evidence of just how unpopular Newt Gingrich truly is? When his campaign bus broke down in West Hollywood last night, it sat for hours while the locals did little to help. Although you didn’t need a poll to tell you that Newt Gingrich is probably viewed unfavorably in West Hollywood.
Putting these numbers into a bit more context — even at her least likeable, Sarah Palin never had a CNN unfavorable rating that surpassed 60 percent. Yes, that Sarah Palin.
While he does not face the same favorability problem as Gingrich, Ron Paul also finds himself merely a subplot to the Romney-versus-Santorum narrative. In an attempt to give his campaign a much-needed boost, Paul’s website released a section for supporters, called, “How Can I Help?”
The number seven way you could help? You could become a Ron Paul Girl, an “enthusiastic woman to record occasional video announcements for our site.” The search is also on to be The Ron Paul Girl. And it would seem it’s not off to a good start.
(Excerpt from video clip) WOMAN: Ron Paul for president. Ron Paul for president.
OLBERMANN: Remembers the words and has her own ukulele.
Joining me now, comedienne and “Countdown” contributor Maysoon Zayid, who leaves here for appearances in Chicago on March 2nd and 3rd, and we’ll remind you of that at the end. Good to see you.
MAYSOON ZAYID: Good to see you too.
OLBERMANN: Newt Gingrich does not know this yet but he can’t be president. He’s not going to wind up being president. So what I was thinking — he still can be as unpopular as any American politician who’s ever lived. What can he do to achieve this? What can he do to make himself more unpopular?
ZAYID: To be even less liked?
OLBERMANN: Yes.
ZAYID: He could strap his dog to the roof of a car and drive for 12 hours.
OLBERMANN: That’s old hat.
ZAYID: He could — he could leave his cancer-stricken wife — oh, wait.
OLBERMANN: No, no.
ZAYID: He did that, too.
OLBERMANN: Rerun.
ZAYID: What if he shot Bambi? I mean, Bambi’s mother’s already dead. Shoot Bambi. That’s all he’s got.
OLBERMANN: Kind of — it’s Dick Cheney-like though. You know? Basically, it’s Dick Cheney he’d be competing with for least popular, I would think.
ZAYID: Exactly.
OLBERMANN: Ms. Palin — no, before Ms. Palin, the — the Gingrich bus breaks down in West Hollywood.
ZAYID: And no one helps them.
OLBERMANN: Could you have written this?
ZAYID: No.
OLBERMANN: If you wrote that, somebody would go, “No, cut this out. It’s ridiculous.”
ZAYID: No, you can’t write stuff like that, but the fact that even the characters — even the people dressed as Spider-Man — it wasn’t even worth it to them to help for a dollar. They were like, “I’m not doing this. I have morals. I have ethics.”
OLBERMANN: Exactly. All right, I was gonna ask you about Palin.
ZAYID: Um-hmm.
OLBERMANN: Hinting she might not get back into the race but she’s there, in case they simply want to hand it to her at a brokered convention. As we said, nearly 60 percent in the unpopularity score, herself. If you had it — like a Palin/Gingrich or even a — you know, Gingrich/Palin ticket, could that be the worst — least positive in history? Could you do worse than that?
ZAYID: I had forgotten that she had even existed and I wish the world would let me continue to forget that, but the one ticket I think could compete for worst is Allen West/Christine O’Donnell.
OLBERMANN: Oh, Lord.
ZAYID: They could call it “Wacko Meets the Witch.”
OLBERMANN: But how could Allen West share a stage with a woman?
ZAYID: We could put her in a burqa.
OLBERMANN: Okay. The Gingrich poll numbers — 66 percent of women have an unfavorable view of him. Forgetting the presidency, should he still be worried about the number, relative to the prospects of a fourth wife?
ZAYID: No. Sadly, he shouldn’t. And the thing is this — you don’t watch the amount of reality television that I do.
OLBERMANN: Yeah.
ZAYID: Well, I’m telling you, sadly, there are a bunch — a bunch — of desperate women out there who are ready to marry a pasty, angry muffin with a half-million-dollar credit line at Tiffany’s. They’re called “Real Housewives.” None of them are married and they’re ready to be wife number four.
OLBERMANN: And this is sort of an extension of the premise of women who marry guys who are spending lifetimes in jail? That kind of thing, I guess?
ZAYID: Yeah. It’s a little bit worse than marrying a prisoner on death row but you still get the jewels.
OLBERMANN: Ron Paul searching for The Ron Paul Girl. He’s the only one who can get away with that, right? I mean, if the — if Herman Cain had said “I’m gonna search for The Herman Cain Girl,” there would have been 35 of them who came out and said, “I thought I was already The Herman Cain Girl!” Right?
ZAYID: Herman Cain’s problem is that, instead of searching for them, he likes to catch them, like “Pokémon.” And he doesn’t understand that women running away means, “No,” and not, “Chase me.”
But I have to confess to you, I was gonna try out to be The Ron Paul Girl ’cause I got bills to pay. But the problem is I’m more CP than RP and he’s not really a fan of the disabled, Medicare or affirmative action, so I don’t really think I have a shot.
OLBERMANN: And we also will close with this thought. Ron Paul got the endorsement earlier this month — I didn’t know this — of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada.
ZAYID: Shocking. It’s absolutely shocking to me because I thought Moonlite would go out for Mitt Romney because Mormons and licensed prostitution go together like peanut butter and jelly. And if not Romney, Santorum — he’s there, anyway.
OLBERMANN: Or — or Gingrich.
ZAYID: Or Gingrich.
OLBERMANN: “Countdown” contributor Maysoon Zayid, thanks for your time tonight. March 2nd and 3rd in Chicago. Where in Chicago?
ZAYID: University of Chicago and Joynt’s.
OLBERMANN: Excellent. Enjoy. Good to see you.
ZAYID: Thank you.
OLBERMANN: Thanks for coming in.
