Maybe there’s another explanation for the statement by Rick Tyler, Newt Gingrich’s press secretary Rick Tyler, which Peter quoted earlier, but I doubt it—unless Gingrich’s new campaign strategy is to insult the bloggers and journalists who report on it

Ignoring the weirdness of Tyler’s statement (why does Gingrich’s spokesperson talk like a grouchy gnome from a fantasy fiction movie?), the publications and pundits who picked up on Gingrich’s comments weren’t only liberal and mainstream ones. In fact some of the first ones to write about it were conservative blogs and publications like the National Review Online, the Daily Caller, and Hot Air. And many of them were critical.

Some of Gingrich’s most outspoken critics have been conservatives who are concerned about the damage his comments might have done to the deficit debate. If the Gingrich campaign honestly thinks this is because these bloggers and commentators are worried about getting invited to cocktail parties, then he is completely clueless.

Insulting the very people his campaign needs to get his message out is a terrible tactic, and if he thinks this will help him look like a Washington “outsider,” he’s mistaken. The conservative base gets its news from many of the radio hosts and bloggers that the Gingrich campaign just appeared to take a broad swipe at. Maybe his spokesperson’s comments were taken out of context—and if that’s the case, Gingrich should clarify this as soon as possible. Whether conservative bloggers and journalists will still be listening is an open question.