Newt Gingrich is moving closer to a presidential nomination bid in a severely divided Republican Party. "I will decide based on whether I have about $30 million in committed campaign contributions and whether I think it is possible to run a campaign based on ideas rather than 30-second sound bites," the former House speaker told The Washington Times yesterday.
Many Republicans, regardless of whether they agree with his views, regard him as conservatism’s brainiest and most-engaging politician. "The party believes ideas have consequences, and no one articulates our message better than Newt," said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius "Saul" Anuzis.
Party strategist Tom Edmonds says Mr. Gingrich "is intellectually superior, but his challenge will be to stay focused." The first deadline for a Gingrich move is Oct. 15, when prospective and declared presidential nomination candidates must pay $500 to Utah to be on the state’s primary ballot, said Gingrich confidant Randy Evans.
Mr. Gingrich is careful not to commit formally to a run. "I will conduct workshops around the country through September 30, after which I will make a decision," he told The Times after a major policy address at the American Enterprise Institute. Another factor is whether any current contender coalesces Republican voters before the middle of next month.
Newt Gingrich is a nightmare. Period. I really hope that his sordid history stops him dead in his tracks on this one. I hope the citizens of Georgia that he represented shout from the rooftops about what a horrible person he is. gah…just gah.
Shouting coming from here, that’s guaranteed…