Gingrich Takes Step Toward '08 Run

Politico: Former Speaker Looking For $30 Million In Pledges; Announcing Plans By Oct. 21

(The Politico)  This story was written by Mike Allen.

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will open a website by Monday in an effort to round up the $30 million in pledges that he says would be his ticket to entering the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

A longtime adviser, J. Randolph Evans of McKenna Long & Aldridge, will hold a press briefing at 3:30 p.m. Monday in Atlanta to describe plans for what Gingrich aides are calling a “feasibility assessment.”

Aides say Gingrich will announce his intentions by Oct. 21, ahead of a Michigan filing deadline.

During a recent breakfast with a Politico reporter and other journalists, Gingrich made it clear he has given a great deal of thought to how he would run, starting with a national television ad that would be heavy on his policy ideas.

That might be followed with DVDs of his agenda to households in early-voting states.

Gingrich vowed that he would not participate in group debates like those that now sprinkle the campaign calendar.

“I’m not a penguin,” he said, referring to the field of candidates at the debates as “a row of penguins.” Instead, he said, he wants to hold one-on-one, 90-minute “dialogues” on such topics as fixing specific inner cities.

“If I did run, I wouldn’t do any dog and pony shows,” he said. “I’d debate anybody who wanted to for 90 minutes - one-on-one, for 90 minutes, in either party.”

No exploratory or testing-the-waters committee will be immediately formed, so the Gingrich team cannot collect cash, only pledges.

And Gingrich said he will not take an active role in the effort, although he is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

“I’m not doing anything,” he said at the breakfast. “I’ve told Randy Evans he will have my proxy … to do what he wants to do, and then report back to me.

"I’m not getting on the phone and calling people. He’s going to report back to me in late October, and he either will have found the resources or not found them. But I’m not doing it. That’s not my business.”

Getting $30 million in three weeks will be a tall order, and top Republicans said they are skeptical it can be done, saying Gingrich has a large following but has hurt himself with his on-again, off-again approach to running.

Politico reported this week that since establishing American Solutions for Winning the Future late last year, Gingrich has pulled in $3.5 million, according to the group’s reports to the IRS.

Gingrich has said for a long time that through Saturday, he’ll be focused on “Solutions Day,” an American Solutions conference aimed at helping citizens change their government, from school boards to the White House.

The event kicked off with an overflow crowd of 1,200 in Cobb County, Ga., with live transmission on the Web, Dish Network and DirectTV. The event continues with a series of workshops Saturday.

“I’ve told Randy, who’s my senior adviser, that starting Sunday, he can talk to people around the country,” Gingrich said.

“And if by Nov. 1, there is sufficient interest that you could be competitive financially, I would seriously consider running. I think you have to have $30 million in pledges or you just can’t start, because [former] Governor [Mitt] Romney can just drown you. He can do what [John] Kerry did last time, except he can do it out of his own checking account. He doesn’t have to mortgage his wife’s house.”

Acknowledging it would be an uphill race, Gingrich said he thinks Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) will be the Democratic nominee, and he said the Republican nominee has only about a 20 percent chance of winning.

But he said, “This is a center-right country. There’s no stretch of the imagination by which you can argue this is left-wing country.”

Gingrich called the $30 million threshold “a proxy for, ‘Is there a large enough base of support?’”

“If you had that level of intensity of support and it was that broad across the country, it would be pretty hard to imagine that you would turn and say ‘no,’ ” he said. “I think that’s what Reagan found in ’75. He had no intention of running,” but decided to by popular demand.

Technology is opening promising new avenues for an ideas-based campaign, Gingrich said.

“A candidate who wanted to, for example, for the price of a national ad, could probably send a DVD with their full position to every household in Iowa,” he said. “And say to the average person: ‘Is the future of your country, the future of your children worth one hour of your time? That’s all I’m asking.’ ”

Gingrich said he especially likes the idea of having dialogues with Democrats in the inner city “to talk about: What are you prepared to change in the current bureaucracy and the current power structure so that the people of this community have safety and have education and have jobs?”

Gingrich already keeps a busy schedule. He says he gives five to 15 speeches a week.

And he is co-author of a book coming out next month called “A Contract with the Earth” (Johns Hopkins University Press), which sketches what he calls “a green conservatism.”

That will be followed in January by “Real Change” (Regnery Publishing), which he said “talks about moving from the world that fails to the world that works.”

“I like American Solutions,” he said. “I think over a five- or 10-year period, American Solutions is going to be enormously important. I am reluctant to run for that reason. But ... Reagan got to this position in ’75. He didn’t want to run in ’76. He didn’t announce till Nov. 13. Although Nov. 6 is one year before the election. Not that we check on these things.”

[prinzowhales]

It is a testimony to the moral bankruptcy of this nation that a creature like Gingrich could feel that he could aspire to the presidency after deserting his wife in her hour of need and putting out the ''contract on America.''

[jerr11]

Gingrich represents the upright moral majority.

It''s compassionate conservatism meets Christian values

otherwise known as the

"When you get tired of the old hag, just get yourself a new wife!" platform!

LOL

[sftodd]

Give the poor guy a break! Who wouldn''t want to dump their spouse if he/she were dying of cancer? Poor Newt has suffered through a lot! No wonder he was having an affair while serving as Speaker of the House.

I''m sure the public will forgive him for taking out a contract on America.

[jowand]

It is a testimony to the moral bankruptcy of this nation that a creature like Gingrich could feel that he could aspire to the presidency after deserting his wife in her hour of need and putting out the ''''contract on America.''''


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Posted by Prinzowhales at 05:08 PM : Sep 28, 2007

He comes off the same assembly line as Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, the *** mold.

[jowand]

"When you get tired of the old hag, just get yourself a new wife!" platform!

LOL




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Posted by jerr11 at 05:16 PM : Sep 28, 2007
Are you his X?

[jerr11]

I agree we need to give Gingrich a break.

I mean what''s worse than having an old aging wife?

An old aging wife dying of cancer!

These democrats have no clue!

Why is Bill Clinton still sticking to that old frigid woman?

He should just get rid of her and marry one of Chelsea''s college mates!

Like Fred Thompson did!!

LOL!!

[coffee_guy1]

"It is a testimony to the moral bankruptcy of this nation that a creature like Gingrich could feel that he could aspire to the presidency after deserting his wife in her hour of need and putting out the ''''contract on America.''''"

I thought personal stuff didn''t matter.

[jerr11]

Are you his X?

Posted by jowand at 05:33 PM : Sep 28, 2007


Yes I am, and I love him for it!

Newt, dump me one more time!

LOL

[jackhighland]

VOTE on who you want to be President:

1. A History Professor- Gingrich

2. A Greedy Lawyer- Edwards

3. A Meglomaniac Narcistic Lawyer- Hillary

4. A Lawyer without experiance- Obamba

[coffee_guy1]

Like him or don''t like him, Newt is the GOP.

[coffee_guy1]

Go for it, Newt.

[speakinup]

Question - would America want Pelosi of Gingrich given just those two choices ?

Face it Lefties - you are afraid of him, aren''t you ?


Hey prinzowhales At least he didn''t go cutting the heads off of wives he didn''t like - Your past kings did.

[cdfoxtrot]

You go, Newt. Please, please, please run. People have forgotten what a mean-spirited a$$h-ole you are. You are the more honest, up-front face of Republicans. Please, please, please run.

[boatdocster]

Classic GOP "Do as I say, not as I Do" platform -

*** around with one of his aides while dumping his sick wife and in the same breath harping about how morally "corrupt" Clinton was for *** around with one of his aides.... At least the Clinton''s worked it out and kept together!

Poster Child for why the GOP needs to go!

[jerr11]

Face it Lefties - you are afraid of him, aren''''t you ?

Posted by speakinup at 06:08 PM : Sep 28, 2007


The lefties know that the 2008 elections is just a formality.

We all know the GOP is going to win the white house again in 08.

They''ll rig the votes just as they did in Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004.

Go GOP go!!

[boatdocster]

Anyone who could justify what he did to his wife could justify almost anything; and that could be a real issue if he were President.

It''s not that I''m scared of him as a person, but I do worry about what he thinks is "right", what he would do to our country, or someone else''s country under the guise of the Bible and God. Like dropping a nuke on someone using the "One nation under God" justification...

[glossypan]

jackhighland....."VOTE on who you want to be President:

1. A History Professor- Gingrich"

History Professor..... Oh, do you mean the series of lectures Gingrich delivered and paid himself in tax exempt GOPAC funds? By a vote of 395-28, the Republican controlled House reprimanded him and fined him $300,000 for misusing exempt funds and lying to the House.

Thanks for reminding us.

[prinzowhales]

coffee_guy1--"I thought personal stuff didn''''t matter."
-----------------------------
I hope you didn''t get that idea from me.

[prinzowhales]

speakingup--We don''t have kings in North Carolina... the Chimp''s father once claimed to be "the Queen of May".

[gkc99]

The Tighty Whitey Righties must be getting pretty desperate if they''re trotting out this fatuous dim bulb Newtie again as presidential material.

Newtie, just stick with going on Paul Deen''s show and praising her frahd cheeyikin, and leave running the country to people with an IQ greater than their height in inches.

Tuff luck Repugs--you''re gonna suck it up this time! Thanks, neoconscum!

[sirreal7]

newt is monitoring this list .... when he is elected potus all persons who have submitted critical comments will be targeted for rendition by the cia ... newt may be a little runt but he won''t take *** from anybody ...

[cdfoxtrot]

I''ll be contributing to his campaign, to get him into the race. Anyone who desires an intelligent, reasonable person to win in ''08 (i.e. a Dem.) should consider contributing to Newt. He''ll drag his competitors so far to the right, most moderate voters will be too appalled to consider voting Repiglican. Think Pat Buchanan and his embarrassing convention address. No-one likes a mean-spirited a$$ho1e.

[socrates392]

Posted by cdfoxtrot at 08:14 PM : Sep 28, 2007

Oh yeah! If he got the nomination, the Dems can put it in the bank. He''s too conservative for the general population. It doesn''t help that he is a hypocrite either. I was rather shocked when I heard he was having an affair while he was impeaching Clinton . . . You think Giuliani is having problems with the Christian base . . . Hypocracy and extramarital affairs **** everyone off. If he gets nominated, he''ll get whooped!

[coffee_guy1]

Chicks.. they''ll ****** anybody.

[coffee_guy1]

"nI hope you didn''''t get that idea from me."

No sir. I didn''t get that idea from you. I got that idea from Washington.

[trenticus-2009]

Newt??? I don''t think so! Why waste donors money for a lost cause????

[liberalme]

Just what we need, another one with "high morals and standards" Thats the best the repubs can do. They just keep making it easier and easier for the dems!

[seven-pesos]

dead-enders in the south refuse to see that they''ve lost another war...

jefferson davis, lyndon johnson, george bush, jr.

the south has the distinction of losing all the wars they ever started.

ha,ha,ha.

belligerent dixie losers...bush lovers!

the south can''t be depended upon to do the right thing for america.

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

[jsilver2th]

Oh boy another Contract On America...

Y A W N...
Hasn''t anybody told him the 80''s are over?

He thinks so special he doesn''t have to debate the others or even ask for money...

Who besides the American Enterprise Institute knighted this guy?

Earth to Newt- you''re a LOOOOOSER

[kansas1946]

I don''t blame him. He is probably getting tired of his current wife and needs some fresh campaign groupies to buff. This could be a first. The president taking his fourth wife in the White House. (Or is it five) I lost count.

[kansas1946]

VOTE on who you want to be President:

1. A History Professor- Gingrich

2. A Greedy Lawyer- Edwards

3. A Meglomaniac Narcistic Lawyer- Hillary

4. A Lawyer without experiance- Obamba

*******************************************
That is the easiest choice anyone has ever given me. I''ll take door number 4. Barack Obama is the classiest person running for president, Democrat or Republican. Newt is a joke.

Newt: Definition.
Member of the salamander family with slippery, slimey skin, most happy wallowing in the mud with plump female newts.

[walt1944-2009]

The once Speaker of the House, now sometimes science fiction writer, Newt Gingrich, is debating with himself, since he won''t debate with anyone else, if he should run for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich believes that if a Mormon who doesn''t know which end of a gun is the "business end", a former POW who loves war, a former New York City mayor who divorces his wife over his cell phone, and a former movie actor who thinks he is Ronald Reagan, can run for the White House, then a former House Speaker named after a lizard has a chance too!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[jsilver2th]

Now I was thinking--

Newt criticizes the other GOP candidates for skipping the "minority" debates...

Then he says he''s skipping all the debates...

So his tact is to insult everybody- true equality...

If you''re ever bored get the old Contract on America and read it side by side with the the Constitution of the Confederate States... he even cribbed that!

[realpatriot1]

His campaign song will be "God Save The Queen".

I wonder if Larry Craig will be his running mate?

Probably not, they need a balanced ticket. Maybe he''ll choose a manly man like Barbara Bush.

[ioweign]

"When you get tired of the old hag, just get yourself a new wife!" platform!

LOL




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Posted by jerr11 at 05:16 PM : Sep 28, 2007
Are you his X?

Posted by jowand at 05:33 PM : Sep 28, 2007

Which one ??

[fairandbal]

Gingrich, the GOP''s answer to the question of the party''s diversity issues.... another OLD WHITE MALE running for the GOP nomination.
Run Newt Run! The party desparetly needs you!!!

[sftodd]

Newt is lucky he''s still alive at his age and weight. We need someone who will live past their first year in office.

[incog-nito]

Another one? Don''t they have enough candidates already? BTW, where''s Jeb Bush? Isn''t he supposed to be the rightful heir to the throne?

[usayesterday]

Gingrich, the GOP''''s answer to the question of the party''''s diversity issues.... another OLD WHITE MALE running for the GOP nomination.
Run Newt Run! The party desparetly needs you!!!

Posted by fairandbal at 12:20 AM : Sep 29, 2007
..............

Well, it''s that....

...or Newt just becomes yet another radical-right radio talk show host!

Either way, the mindless drivel from his mouth will be non stop!

[brianbwb-2009]

%u201CI%u2019d debate anybody who wanted to for 90 minutes - one-on-one, for 90 minutes, in either party.%u201D Newt

You couldn''t even debate me, son. If I had the financial resources, I''d gladly take you up on that one, you wouldn''t stand a, well, a newt''s chance in hell. You might have some luck with the other "candidates", but none of them could handle me either.

Who am I? No one.
Why couldn''t you handle me?
I bring truth.
How does one debate truth?
With "re-interpretation"?
That is why you wouldn''t stand a chance.

[tmn]

"a Newt''s chance in hell"

hehehe...gotta love it!

[adian1-2009]

I would advise clown Gingrich to watch the European News Channel if he is going to understand my comment: "NO COMMENT".

[wfbdem]

Please please please run!!!
In Wisconsin, we do not have to declare a party in the primaries. Our lkarge group of friends all plan to vote for Newt as the rupublican party candidate.
Seriously. If newt gets the nod, I guarentee the Dems will win 40-45 states. Newt-er will win mainly in the South, where they have shown there hatred for the Constitution and the Bills of Rights twice in the last 8 years...err... I mean.. they voted for bush lite.

[moosbrth]

Who the heck wants thats this REDNECK in any office!