Newt Gingrich says Allen West would be a good choice as VP running mate in 2012

madfloridian

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Fri Feb-25-11 06:02 PM
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Newt Gingrich says Allen West would be a good choice as VP running mate in 2012

I never cease to be amazed at the way that nothing ever sticks to certain Republicans. Gingrich appears to be seriously talking about running for president. He said he will make a decision in a few weeks.

Gingrich says Allen West would be considered as his running mate

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said at a Republican Palm Beach County fundraiser that if he won the Republican presidential nomination, he would strongly consider a Floridian as his running mate.

�Allen West would certainly be someone you�d look at,� Gingrich told NBC affiliate WPTV.

West responded, �We don�t know what the future holds, but I�m always willing to serve my country.�

�I have to pray about it and I have to clear it with my wife and two daughters,� he added. �I never thought that seven years ago when I retired here I�d be a United States Congressman.�

More on this interesting topic of Gingrich and West as running mates.

Allen West leaves door open to 2012 VP slot

"Allen West would certainly be someone you'd look at," said Gingrich.

West seemed surprised at Gingrich's comments.

"He said that?" asked West.

Florida has never had a candidate on a national ticket, and GOP Representative Tom Rooney says West already has a high-profile for someone who has only been in office a few weeks.

"When we walk around Capitol Hill, all the national reporters know his name, they don't know mine," said Rooney.

Rooney says it would make sense for a Republican contender to pick someone like Representative West or another young GOP star, Senator Rubio.

Gingrich is amazing. He has the teflon coating that seems exclusive to Republicans, no matter their personal history.

The news that Newt Gingrich is headed for his second messy divorce, allegedly involving a longtime affair with a House of Representatives employee, has been largely ignored by news media that have not always been as sensitive to the privacy needs of major politicians.

It's true that Gingrich is no longer in Congress, where he orchestrated the impeachment of the president of the United States over charges rising from Bill Clinton's sexual dalliances. But Gingrich, through his many public appearances, remains a self-appointed definer of the Republican Revolution, which counted family values at its core. These very values are called into question if the married speaker of the House was having an affair with a much-younger congressional employee who ultimately reported to him.

Critics of Gingrich have long made much of the insensitivity he demonstrated in serving his first wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. Nor did news of his efforts to cut life insurance coverage for the mother of his children always endear Gingrich to his family values supporters, but it was generally assumed that his marital errors were in the past.

This time, his approach was less personal. Marianne Gingrich told the Washington Post that she was informed of the affair and the request for a divorce last May in a telephone call from Newt to her mother's home, where she was visiting.

And Allen West for VP? Well, he is gaining his own reputation in other ways.