Posted on 12/17/2006 8:36:05 AM PST by advance_copy
WASHINGTON - Newt Gingrich suggested on Sunday he might not run for president in 2008 if a rival has all but locked up the Republican nomination by next fall.
The former House speaker from Georgia said it would not be too late for him to enter the race after next Labor Day, if he believed no candidate had a clear advantage. He praised Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani as the contenders to watch.
"If one of them seals it off by Labor Day, my announcing now wouldn't make any difference anyway," Gingrich said. "If none of the three, having from now 'til Labor Day, can seal it off, the first real vote is in 2008. And there's plenty of time in the age of television and e-mail, between Labor Day and 2008."
The nominee will not be picked officially until the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in early September 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Newt's main strategy for "reform" is to dramatically increase the size of the State Department - a WTF factor at category five. The psuedo-intellectual nonsense from Gingrich about the war he calls a "failure" has no bearing whatsoever on how we achieve success in Iraq.
Gingrich has got some good ideas, but he will not win, and we cannot risk him losing to Hillary.
I....ME, a housewife, has a better chance of becoming Prez!! If it were Newt and a Democrat and the Democrat was killed, the Democrat would win.
Blech. This guy gives me the willies. I'd never vote for him.
The thing that worries me most about Gingrich is that he thinks he should be President.
I agree that he's damaged goods, however there is a silver lining. I think he's proving himself to be valuable as a private citizen who can speak openly and educate.
His FOX news specials have been spectacular.
He'd be a decent president, but he is utterly unelectable. He is very arrogant not to see that.
I will not vote for Newt. He has ethical problems that render him politically impotent. He does have some good ideas however, his energy should be focused on working with the leadership to identify a viable 2008 candidate.
he's the only Republican out there right now that I would vote for. I'll be so disappointed if McCain is the candidate and I could never vote for him
Newt knows that he has too much baggage to ever be president. What he wants to do, much in an effective role ala Haley Barbor, is get some conservative points made public.
Many of the so-called Republicans of late, including Bush, have abandoned the Reagan principles, which are SO badly needed in this country, RIGHT NOW...
Newt is a Master of Five Adjectives.
Nothing more.
I like Newt, unlike most, he has a brain and uses it. Look what electing "electable" canidates has gotten us? How about we nonminate good man/woman for a change.
No, I believe he wants to drive the debate, and therefore push the agenda back to the Right, where the GOP has always enjoyed most of it's success.
Increasing the size of the State Department is not pushing the agenda back to the right.
Newt is a smart man but eminently unelectable for many many reasons.
If he doesn't recognize that, he is not as smart as I think he is.
Newt has been saying for 2 years now: "Beg me and I will run. Please. Beg me, please."
Newt should forget it. As long as he's scarfing oxygen, the lesser-knowns will stayed sidelined.
As much as I find Newt to be a very knowledgable politician, the best he could do in a national race would be third place, and that with no one else running for that office. He's completely unelectable and should stay doing what he's doing.
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