Posted on 04/12/2005 11:40:25 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will spend two days in New Hampshire next week to meet editorial boards and conservative activists, convincing several of his former House colleagues that he will run for the presidency in 2008.
Gingrich will spend Monday and part of Tuesday in the Granite State and has packed his schedule with events calculated to boost his profile and woo influential Republicans whose support would be critical in a presidential primary. New Hampshire is the site of the first primary.
Gingrich will attend a $50-per-person fundraiser for the New Hampshire Republican State Committee and meet a coalition of conservative activists. He has also scheduled meetings with the Concord Monitor, Union Leader and Valley News and an appearance on New England Cable News, said Rick Tyler, his spokesman.
The former Speaker will also visit the Dartmouth College Republicans and participate in two signing sessions for his new book, Winning the Future. High-toned books are classic markers of a politician’s blossoming presidential ambitions.
Gingrich will also travel to Iowa on May 12 and 13 for visits to Sioux City, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and will likely participate in events for the local Republican Party and attend one or two book signings, Tyler said. The Iowa caucuses are the first election of the presidential nominating process, followed by the New Hampshire primary a few days later.
News of Gingrich’s foray into the presidential battleground and the array of politically significant activities have prompted enthusiastic responses from House Republicans. All GOP lawmakers who spoke with The Hill said he would be a top-tier candidate who could seriously challenge the early front-runners, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Although McCain and Giuliani lead early national polls, some conservatives view them with deep skepticism. McCain has often sided with Senate Democrats in key legislative battles, such as last year’s over the budget, and Giuliani supports abortion rights.
Gingrich is a hero of conservatives, whose influence will be heightened in a presidential primary.
“Apart from Ronald Reagan, there has been no voice more clarion in the conservative movement than Newt Gingrich in the last 25 years,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of about 100 conservatives in the House. “I know that conservatives because of their respect and affection for him are going to take a real hard look at Gingrich.” Pence said conservatives would also consider carefully Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) should they decide to run for president, as many political observers expect.
Pence recalled his days as a House candidate, driving around the district listening to GOPAC tapes of Gingrich explaining how to communicate the tenets of conservatism.
“The man has a genuine gift for inspiring passion for conservative ideals,” Pence said. “That used to come across on tape.”
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), who came to Congress as part of the Republican revolution of 1994 that Gingrich led, said, “I think Newt would love to be president. I don’t think there is any question about it. He’s already met the criteria; he’s already written a book, or several books. This is right up Newt’s alley.”
Though LaHood said Gingrich hasn’t told him either way, he added, “I have no doubt that he’s exploring the possibility of running for president.”
When asked recently at a lunch at the Princeton Club in New York if he would run for president in 2008, Gingrich responded, “You never know,” the New York Post reported.
During a March 24 speech at the Four Seasons Hotel sponsored by the Wednesday Morning Club, a group of Hollywood Republicans, one attendee asked Gingrich to run for president. Gingrich didn’t rule out the possibility, saying merely that he would “stay focused on issues.”
Tyler said his boss is not planning on running for president “but he hasn’t ruled it out, so I shouldn’t rule it out for him.”
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who was a freshman lawmaker when Gingrich led the 1994 revolution, said Gingrich “comes into it as a top contender.”
“I say that because he is a prodigious fundraiser and a brilliant strategist and he’s brilliant on the issues,” said Kingston, who compared Gingrich’s political skills to those of his one-time nemesis, former President Bill Clinton.
“Newt is a brilliant guy, like Bill Clinton in many ways, complete with some tragic flaws of his own,” Kingston said. He said that Gingrich had a knack for calling a meeting when factions of the Republican caucus were at loggerheads and making peace.
Mark Foley, who came to Congress as part of Republican revolution, said that Gingrich “probably has the best political Rolodex of anyone in the nation.”
“He is the best known of any of the potential candidates,” Foley said. “I think he is seriously considering it and positioning himself to be considered seriously.”
“Think of how many candidates like myself he’s helped in the past; think of all the Lincoln Day dinners he’s attended,” said Foley. “Who can access such a network instantly? Even senators don’t have the kind of reach that the Speaker had in his heyday.”
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), who served two years as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, said Gingrich’s skill set may be better suited for the White House than it was for the Speaker’s office.
“He’s a visionary and a big thinker, whereas the primary obligation of Speaker is making the trains run on time,” Feeney said. “Some of the negative criticism of Newt is that he was busy coming up with one big idea after another and there was little follow through.”
Feeney said that few politicians are as articulate as Gingrich and that the centrist ideology of the early favorites in the race may create an opportunity.
“Newt may sense an opening based on philosophy,” Feeney said. “we have a very conservative base across the country.”
Unelectable, with too much personal baggage and too much ideology. He should just return to the class room where he really shines, and forget about running for president.
Name a Republican who is electable this go round?
The pickin's is slim.
Its going to be tough going. I don't see anyone and Newt cannot win a presidential election. Alot of people DO NOT like him!
Newt winning the primaries would be "centrist" Hillary!'s dream come true.
I agree. That would ensure another Clinton WhiteHouse!
I'd love to see him run. I like him much more than any other candidate I've heard mentioned so far.
Rep.Mike Pence is very electable-Once people know who he is.
What ideology is that? Certainly not conservatism.
“Apart from Ronald Reagan, there has been no voice more clarion in the conservative movement than Newt Gingrich in the last 25 years,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of about 100 conservatives in the House. “I know that conservatives because of their respect and affection for him are going to take a real hard look at Gingrich.” Pence said conservatives would also consider carefully Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) should they decide to run for president, as many political observers expect.
Pence recalled his days as a House candidate, driving around the district listening to GOPAC tapes of Gingrich explaining how to communicate the tenets of conservatism.
“The man has a genuine gift for inspiring passion for conservative ideals,” Pence said. “That used to come across on tape.”
You gotta love Pence.He is far to nice to EVERYONE.He would
find nice things to say about his biggest enemy.It is impossible not to like Pence personally,even the liberals think he is a decent man.
When I read this I thought, are we THAT desperate in choosing a leader in 2008 that we would have to choose Newt Gingrich? Isn't there anyone else?
However, I do not see Newt winning the presidency, nor even the nomination. This is not to say he isn't smart or visionary.
The media would be after him in a full-court press, it would galvanize the left in ways we can't even beging to imagine, and a fair number of people would be turned off by his personal life.
This is also why I do not see Rudy Guiliani running.
On the other hand, I WOULD like to see Mike Pence run. He is conservative, honest, genuinely nice, and has no baggage. The only thing he lacks is national name recognition, which I don't know if he can get prior to the primaries.
It is right in front of your face:MIKE PENCE
Don't know him! He's not well known outside of his state like most Senators and Congressmen (except for the lousy ones like McCain and Frist). These Congressmen and Senators need to come out more.
Anything that pushes the race to the right, makes it more competitive, and challenges canidates, while preparing them for the general election is a good thing.
That said, Newt would be better off as a political operative rather then as a canidate, he's more suited to fill a "Karl Rove" type role as an advisor, he lacks to much as a canidate.
THAT I totally agree with.
Those characteristics got Clinton elected twice!
Only because the conservative vote was split and the GOP candidates hired the single worst campaign director ever.
I like Newt. That having been said, he's got no shot.
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