A Newt Gingrich run in 2012? Quite possible but...

No one in their right mind announces or confirms a White House run this far out.

Yes, presidential campaign announcement dates have been creeping up. In 1960, John F. Kennedy announced on Jan. 3 of election year. Bill Clinton announced the fall before election year. George W. Bush announced the summer before election year.

And Barack Obama the winter before the summer before the fall before election year. And that successful run cost $750 million in other people's money.

Why ask to be politically targeted this soon?  It's -- what? -- 1,107 days now until Nov. 6, 2012.

So C-SPAN's Mr. Excitement, Steve Scully, knew better Sunday than to ask former House Speaker Newt Gingrich whether he was going to run in the next presidential contest.

Savvy fellow that he is, Scully inquired instead what kinds of things Gingrich would think about as he contemplated that decision. (See C-SPAN video below.)

Gingrich, who engineered the stunning 1994 Republican election victories in....

... both houses of Congress with the Contract with America before quitting after some defeats four years later, walked through the thinking process. 

Callista and I are going to think about this in February 2011. And we are going to reach out to all of our friends around the country. And we'll decide, if there's a requirement as citizens that we run, I suspect we probably will. And if there's not a requirement, if other people have filled the vaccum, I suspect we won't.

Gingrich ran through a lengthy list of other possible Republican suspects, praising Mitt Romney and Haley Barbour and Tim Pawlenty and whats-her-name with the new book and the Nov. 16 appointment with Oprah. Gingrich said, "I have no great personal ambition needs to run for president."

Although, to be honest, he's not exactly hiding himself either, analyzing for Fox News, writing books, gathering nearly 1.14 million followers on Twitter (only 387,000 behind John McCain), giving speeches all over and rising early on an autumn Sunday to answer questions on C-SPAN from even the Democratic and Independent phone lines.

Gingrich also harkened back to the '94 Contract, saying politics needs to be about ideas -- he called them "vivid, powerful alternatives" -- not just maneuvers. "I want to see an alternate Republican Party," Gingrich said, "not an opposition Republican Party."

-- Andrew Malcolm

Why wait for 2011 when you can start receiving Twitter alerts of and links to each new Ticket item instantly by clicking here?  Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook over here.

Video courtesy of C-SPAN

Comments

[cj]

If Newt Gingrich is the GOP candidate in 2012, Obama is sure to be elected for a second term.

[Danny Clark]

Please don't. We need a real conservative.

[danpa]

ya, i could vote for Newt, if he were to be Sarah Palin's VP selection...

no more GoP Standard Candidates for me.... they've lost their way, we need Republican Candidates with go-nads and commitment... and Sarah has more go-nads than the next 10 leading Republicans... she cleaned house in Alaska, and i'm certain she'll do the same in DC....

[Andrew]

Hey Newt!!!

Go away before even trying. You lost my vote already thanks the NY 23 race. You are not conservative. You are a middle of the road, squisy, apologist, pandering to the libs.

[Bruce]

Gingrichs' idea of an "alternative Republican Party" would be nothing more than a shadow Dem party, consisting of fellow "moderates" (RINO's) like McCain, Graham, Snowe, etc.

No thanks, Newt - go hang out with your new best friend Al Sharpton and leave us alone. You sold out your principles long ago. We neither need, nor want your kind infecting the remnants of the GOP.

[erica stephens]

I like Newt,but he is hard to take,and his wife is even more unbearable.She is not very attractive and her hair color is rediculous,not to mention her cheating with a married Newt while his wife dies of cancer.....No chance.

[PurpleMountain]

Newt,

Your citizen requirement will materialize well before February 2011... keep sharpening the saw...

[MissButterfly]

I sure hope he doesn't run! He endorsed that leftie woman with the funny name in New York who's running for Congress - anybody who could do that is hopelessly lost.

[RA]

Newt jumped in bed with the radical, hysterical global warming freaks. Republicans already had one environmental extremist lose. We don't need anothe McLooser.

[Tim Magnus]

Newt...
You had your chance. Get out of the way! '94 was great but you bailed as did the rest of your "Conservative" reformists.

You are out-thinking yourself.
You could've stood up and helped define conservatism but during the Bush admin. but you had your finger up to the wind and diluted your message.
True conservatives saw that and want you to go away with the other Rhino-saurs. Shows over! Next!!!

[Scott Wimmer]

I am always amazed to hear Newt unfiltered. When not taken out of context or spun, he is the most clear, to the point, pro-American person out there. He intellectually dwarfs his opponents and takes criticism like a statesman should.

[Mary Anne Mosack]

Newt is right - politics needs to be about ideas and he has them. I think he is one of the smartest persons in America when it comes to real solutions to some of our most pressing challenges.

[the darker years]

That would be a dream come true compared to what we are dealing with now!

[Skep41]

Gingrich has wandered a long way from his conservative base and has a lot of repair work to do before he can be considered a serious candidate. His Global Warming commercial with Nancy Pelosi is a good example of that, as is his support for that left-wing 'Republican' candidate in the special congressional election in upstate New York. The base was so outraged that the party maneuvered a neo-lib like John McCain into the nomination the last time that they are going to demand that the next nominee oppose the left-wing policies that are destroying our nation and not support compromise with their authors.

[mntx]

Just go away Newt. Your 15 minutes of fame ended over a decade ago. You have sold out to the establishment in politics and don't represent Conservative values any more.

[RBM]

lol, this is funny! Not that Newt MAY run, but that Andrew Malcolm is scared to write "Sarah Palin." hehehe... silly liberal... she isn't going to snatch you away in the middle of the night if you say her name.

[David Driver]

After this more recent election debacle, I think the knwoledge, frank candor and care for America's future that Newt brings to the table, might well be a breath of fresh air for the American People.

I believe we have some challenging years ahead of us. Years that will need some thoughtful preparation as the weather on our planet begins to change, as it does every 100-120 years, towards very cold weather and seasons of famine. Dalton, Maunder, Sporer, Wolf, Ort. Look those names up. Google them. Those are the names of regular and priodic past solar minimums. Educate yourself about what happens when the come. And study not just what they do to the planet, but read about what happened to society as a result of these times of famine. In 1315-1317, nearly half of Norther Europe died as a result of Wolf. Ort before that is suspected of wiping out the Norse Settlements in Greenland. The very fabric of civilized society has been severly challenged during such times in the past.

But never before has there been 8-9 billion people on the planet, as there will be when then new one hits, to feed, house and clothe, as we go though it. This will be a huge new experience for mankind. And there's been no significant improvement (at least not ones that have had a significant impact on cultivation) since the invention of the combine harvester, the railroad and the tractor, for harvesting and shipping food products. Computers are great - but when it comes to harvesting crops and shipping them in a timley manner; in many ways, computers are not much more than an elaborate clocks.

The harvester, the railroad and tractors were relatively new (having been invented since the last great minimum, the end of Maunder in about 1775) when it it became so cold during the Dalton minimum in 1910, that Niagra Falls froze over. Yes. That's how cold it gets. Google the pictures. You can see it for yourself. And now we have snow in Malibu, Massachusetts without Summer... and on and on and on. You can literally see it coming on the evening news. I belive that in 5-12 years, we will be right in the middle of this coming next one.

And duing this time, as more people will seek to force their will and their way into and upon the Unitied States, as the 600-800 million people across the globe that are at risk of starvation today (btw: that was 1/2 the worlds entire population in 1910) begin to suffer and die from malnutrition, blaming their plight on the wealthy and fortunate industrialized nations, because they lack the education to understand the weather - as we head into times like these; We need a strong leader who understands history, understands the impact and the dynamics of global struggle thoughout the ages, and that can lead us through such a challengig era as this coming one.

We don't need more leaders willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater!

[Debbie]

Yes! I saw a recent speech Gingrich made...every word he spoke rang true for me. Need to get over that "affair" from years ago. But, that seems to be the norm these days...easily forgotten.

[Ted]

Sorry Newt, I will not vote for you. Every time I think of you I can only see you siting with PELOSI on that couch lecturing about man made global warming. What financial investment do you have along with Pelosi and probably Pickens? No, you are no longer a viable candidate for any office for me.

[Big John]

NO! NO! NO! Didn't we conservatives learn you can't win by going Democrate light. Newt has sold out to the beltway press. His environments trist with Nancy P. alone disqualifyies him. Backing RINO's for office in NY is another. He had some good ideas 15 years ago but he didn't follow through. Not another McCain!

Republicans have got to understand that there problem is not that they are too conservative it is that they are not conservative enough for the heartland.

Big John

[mike ames]

Why would any correct thinking person who believes in a constitutionally limited republic vote for this RINO, self serving, wife hopping jerk? Sure he has some good ideas and then he makes an endorsement like he did in NY and blows it all. Besides, having good ideas is not enough one must prove themselves with real accomphlisments, not political ones. And what is it with his reference to "Callista" all the time? Is that to make sure we all know which wife he is reffering this time?

[jeff]

I can see a perfect campaign pic for OLD newt the 1 with him locked arm and arm with the Honorable Rev Al Sharpton just like 2 pea's in a pod. Just what the repubs need another loser

[tom]

Oh Gawd I hope not. Newt has drunk the global warming koolaid and that is enough for this conservative/libertarian to just say NO TO NEWT!

[charlietexas]

Speaker Gingrich is planning something, although he is smart enough to hedge his bets and count his votes first.

What I am angry about in this article, is you referred to the former Gov. of Alaska as "whats her name". I will refer to your paper from now on as the "that paper from LA".

Or maybe you can get a job at a real company when the paper implodes as all of em are.

[NO MORE RINOS]

RINO, RINO RINO, HELL NO!!!!