‘I think he can beat Barack Obama,’ 21-year-old tells MTV News. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Andrew Jenks Newt Gingrich meets with supporters in Iowa Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images URBANDALE, IOWA — With just hours to go before Iowa voters go to caucus , even as Newt Gingrich’s poll numbers slipped from their former lofty perch to fourth place, one of his most-fervent campaign staffers told MTV News on Monday that she’s blocking it out and keeping her eye on the prize. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to those polls. … I like to focus on the goal to the very end,” said Myranda Kazos, an energetic political pixie who has moved into a hotel room in Des Moines and put her life on hold in order to help Gingrich finish strong in Iowa. “I’m here to work and do the very best I can.” Kazos, 21, plans to take her LSAT exam soon, but in the meantime, she said she’s logging 18-hour days working for the Gingrich campaign. Her hoarse voice is a testament to the handful of all-nighters she’s pulled, as well as all-in days during which the self-described Newt obsessive has made more than 900 calls to voters in an attempt to lock in their vote. The history and political science major at the University of South Dakota first got involved in politics in 2006 and has been a proud conservative booster ever since. In fact, though she can’t caucus again this year because she’s a South Dakota resident, she has some strong reasons for coming out for Gingrich. “I think he can beat Barack Obama,” she said confidently, bucking the trend of the 41 percent of Iowa voters who were reportedly undecided as the big day loomed, according to a poll released Monday. “I think he has the r
