By Saturday, the day of the flight, only a handful of reporters had committed to fly with Gingrich. And because fewer journalists would be on the plane, the cost per seat skyrocketed to more than $3,000. When the reporters who had given over their credit cards to join the charter heard about the new price, many called the campaign aides frantically to cancel. The campaign refused. The reporters on the bus, now straddled with an unexpected new cost, fumed. Campaign aides were furious over the little mutiny. Reporters threatened to dispute the charges to their credit cards. Then, the campaign dropped a bomb: No reporters would be allowed to fly with Gingrich on his campaign swing on Monday, when his schedule calls for more than 1,000 miles of travel, complete with campaign stops from the panhandle near the Alabama border to Miami. Without a plane, it would be virtually impossible to cover Gingrich on the day before voting begins in the primary that political observers think will make or break his campaign. Also, the press was no longer invited to fly with Gingrich to the next contest in Nevada, which will hold its Republican caucuses on Feb. 4.Newt's got to raise more money for cruises.
No small amount of irony
That the man who shut down the government during the Clinton Administration because he did not get the plane-seat he wanted, would turn to this: