Gingrich May Run in 2008 If No Front-Runner Emerges

[cal04]

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) expects to run for president in 2008 if the contest for the Republican nomination still seems wide open late next year, he said yesterday. In remarks that were critical of both parties' recent performance, Gingrich told a luncheon group of scholars and reporters at the Brookings Institution that he will make a decision in the fall of 2007 about running.

"If at that point there's still a vacuum . . . then we'll probably do something," Gingrich said, adding that his policy pronouncements have more weight if he is seen as a potential presidential candidate. "If you're interested in defining the idea context and the political context for the next generation of Americans, which I am, the most effective way to do that is to be seen as potentially available." Gingrich's entry would shake up a Republican presidential field that now includes Sens. George Allen (Va.), Bill Frist (Tenn.) and John McCain (Ariz.).

Many Republicans still revere Gingrich for engineering the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994, though members of his own party pushed him to resign in 1998 after his drive to impeach President Bill Clinton cost them seats in that year's election. Though he came to power as a fiery conservative, Gingrich has softened some of his partisanship since leaving office. He has criticized the current House leadership for cracking down on dissent, he appeared last year with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to back changes in how medical data are shared, and he supports federal funding for alterative energy sources.

When Americans look at the current roster of Republican and Democratic leaders, Gingrich said, they face an unappealing dilemma. "We have a choice between those who are failing to deliver and those who are unthinkable," he said, adding that he would put "even money" on the Democrats taking back the House this fall. "Neither party currently is where the country is." Gingrich also took a parting shot at Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), who retired from Congress this week after two of his top aides and a close associate, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Although DeLay embraced the nickname "The Hammer" while serving as both majority whip and majority leader, Gingrich said he favors a more tolerant form of leadership.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060901444.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That would be the same Newt Gingrich

who pitched a huge hissy fit and shut down the government in 1995 because he felt snubbed on account of having to use AF1's back door. And the same Newt Gingrich who asked his first wife for a divorce while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer, then cheated on his second wife for six years while he had an affair with a much-younger House aide, who is now his third wife. And the same Newt Gingrich who ended up paying a $300,000 fine for obstructing a House ethics committee investigation relating to a book deal advance.

A nice, fat target!

[Faygo Kid]

5. Yes, another GOP "family values" poster boy.

Like the rest of the hypocrites.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Let him run. It'll be fun to watch him get his ass kicked back to Georgia

Maybe he and Zig Zag Zell will open a bed and breakfast for the terminally stupid.

[OzarkDem]

3. Gingich is a very smart guy

And he's a savvy politician. He's been positioning himself for this for the last 3 years. He authored an op-ed column earlier this week criticizing Congress for cutting funding for cancer research.

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060609/OPINION/60607007/1049

"Is saving someone you know from cancer worth $16 to you? Congress doesn’t seem to think so.

Despite the heavy toll cancer inflicts on the U.S. each year, the House of Representatives’ pending budget resolution would cut $40 million from the National Cancer Institute.

Finding a cure for cancer should be a top concern of Congress. Cancer killed more than half a million Americans last year; it is this country’s second-leading cause of death....."

Gingrich is clever enough to take advantage of a non-controversial and important issue that has meaning for a huge majority of voters. The GOP gave Dems a golden opportunity to make them look bad, and not a single Dem was savvy enough to sieze the opportunity. :banghead:

[Faygo Kid]

7. The last thing "the base" wants is smart. Current prez: Case closed.

What the FReepers and "the base," who will vote in the primary, want is a stick figure who will reinforce their increasingly simplistic and fascist views, that have no bearing whatsoever on what is happening now. Of course, the puppeteers like Rove and Cheney will boost the weak ego of the unintelligent candidate, who will play the role like the actor who believes he truly is the Burger King. My guess? Too soon, but Sen. George Allen of VA has all the attributes of George W. Bush. He is my early pick to be the mouthpiece boob. Or, they may say the hell with it, and the hell with an election, and then magnanimously provide for a "vote" in 2012, after they have "conquered terrorism and can lift martial law," and put Jeb in office.

[mtnsnake]

4. Let him run!

Newt's days are a thing of the past. Someone needs to inform him of that.

[bowens43]

9. No, we don't want to inform him of that,

we want him to get the nomination.

[Telly Savalas]

11. The fact that Newt's days are a thing of the past works to his advantage

The best strategy the GOP nominee can take in 2008 is to distance themself from Bush and the current GOP Congress. Since he's been out of office, he can much more effectively pull this off than other front-runners like Frist, Hagel, McCain, and George Allen.

In a lot of ways he's the ideal candidate for the GOP. He's well connected in DC, but his extended sabbatical helps him brand himself as an outsider. And while he's got enough distance from King 29% Approval Rating to have more widespread appeal, he's still a certifiable psycho-conservative who can mobilize the base.

You can laugh at Newt all you want, but who have the GOP got in their bullpen who can pitch any better?

[ruggerson]

6. I'm hoping he'll win the nomination

Gingrich/Frist!

Even Joe Biden could whup that ticket.

[bowens43]

8. Let's do all we can to see that he gets the nomination,

I mean if we can't get a Santorum, newt is the next best thing.

[Me.]

10. Good

Then we can WHIG him to a loss.

*shadow government*

[BigYawn]

12. Never underestimate a repug who engineered our defeat after 40 years

of ruling the congress as majority party. He is very smart,
very right wing, and very well connected.

His achilles heel? he is a womanizer. But so was Billy boy Clinton
and that never stopped him from becoming president, TWICE.

[threadkillaz]

13. Dear DNC, Get the Newt/H&C Fox Show 5-11-06

Begin preparing campaign commercials using the video transcript.

You will see. Over and out.

[Joe Bacon]

14. Is David Broder gonna inquire about Newt's adultery?

OOPS, I forgot, Republicans can do anything they want and it's OK :-(