Newt Gingrich: $50 per photo as campaign struggles

Newt Gingrich's Southern strategy to get back into the race for the Republican presidential nomination has collapsed, and his campaign is in the red, but the former US House of Representatives speaker is marching on.

In Delaware Monday, Gingrich started charging $50 to anyone who wanted to take a photo with him following a campaign speech to Republicans.

"Some campaigns make you travel all the way to Wall Street to pay $2,500 for a photo with a candidate," a Gingrich spokesman told the National Journal, which broke the story. "We are trying out a new tactic and asking our supporters at our rallies for a nominal donation. And guess what, it is working."

Gingrich has about $1.6 million in debts, according to his last campaign finance report.

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Surrounded by a tight-knit team that includes his daughters and his third wife, Callista, Gingrich appears to be enjoying the campaign trail despite his dwindling electoral fortunes. Disliked by his party's establishment, he still receives regular affirmation from die-hard fans and time in the national spotlight.

"He is enjoying himself and it doesn't bother him that a lot of people are spending time, money, and emotion trying to get him votes that are moot," said Jack Glaser, associate professor at the University of California Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, adding that Texas congressman Ron Paul was in the same boat.

"Gingrich and Paul may have convinced themselves that they are trying to save the country, while being less inclined to recognize or acknowledge that they're enjoying the attention and perks. They both do seem to be having a good time."

Gingrich, hoping to become the Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama on Nov. 6, finished a distant third in Saturday's Louisiana primary.

It was his second big defeat in the South in two weeks, underlining the futility of his White House bid. Gingrich represented Georgia in Congress for two decades and built his campaign around expected strong showings in the conservative region.

Rick Santorum, with seven state wins in March alone, has taken the mantle of the conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. With even Santorum under pressure to end his campaign to further party unity, Gingrich's White House bid looks even more quixotic.

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