Tammy Bruce: Newt Becomes Fred, Teases About White House Run

Newt Becomes Fred, Teases About White House Run

Is he thinking a Thompson/Gingrich ticket? Are you? I am so unimpressed with the field so far, I'm even willing to re-open the Newt file.

Gingrich hints of White House bid

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.

Ericka Anderson at Human Events thinks this about the prospect:

In a meeting I attended a couple months ago, Gingrich hinted that he would run if there was a void to fill in the Republican party when the time came. Many speculated that meant if Fred Thompson did not jump in the game.

Now that Thompson is officially in, many Republicans still feel left out to dry. I prematurely jumped on the Thompson bandwagon, thinking he was the conservative missing from the top tier lineup. But after watching his non-campaign and following him more closely, he is not measuring up. I can't pinpoint it exactly but he seems to lack the necessary enthusiasm and conviction.

Related Link:

Newt's Official Site

Posted by Tammy · September 12, 2007 06:47 PM · Permalink
Politics

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Newt running would definitely spark my interest and elevate morale within the party - especially among those who have been abandoned by the current brand of Republicans.

I hope he jumps in the race. I want an idea man, someone with vision - not just someone who is good at campaigning and then forgets us when they're elected.

Posted by: artgal at September 12, 2007 07:34 PM

A very bad idea! It would split the conservative vote and guarantee a win for either Mitt or Rudy. The only way the GOP can win (as has been the case for 34 years) is if a conservative is the nominee (or at least someone who seem conservative compared to the Dem). Newt should have jumped in the Spring and then Fred would not have - as most Fred folk are conservative as are Newt’s folk. If Newt does enter then the next President will be whoever the Dems nominate! After the Rove Bush screw-up’s conservatives will stay home – as the did in 76 and 92 – if Rudy or Mitt is the standard bearer.

Newt would have been my choice in June but he could not pull the trigger when the target was in his sights. The target is gone now and all he will get is Maggie’s Drawers! (MD is Jarhead talk for nothing! A useless round spent.)

Posted by: Rod at September 12, 2007 07:44 PM

Funny you should mention that, Rod. When I was learning at the range, the first words my instructor told me were, "Every bullet has a story to tell, make sure you know what it is."

The moral of the story, is that rushing the shot is often as bad as not shooting at all.

If we're going to have a victory over the Left in 2008, we need someone who can explain to the public why conservative ideas will be good for the country, and the Left's will make things worse. Hopefully the Speaker's work with American Solutions has laid the groundwork for that.

Posted by: N_Campbell at September 12, 2007 08:49 PM

Mr. Gingrich is a great idea man, but he has no follow through. He hops from idea to idea and drops them as soon as a new one appears. A President must have follow through and the long view. Gingrich's view is only as far as his next audience. In 1982 he laid out a plan before the L5/National Space Society convention in Houston about building solar power satellites at the LaGrange points between the earth and the moon, by the year 2000, where the gravitational pull was equal form the moon and earth, thus insuring that something put there, stayed there without having to rely on thrusters to maintain its position. He apparently forgot the idea before he even returned to Washington because it was never raised by him again. The same thing happened with the "Contract with America". It served its purpose in getting Republican control of the House and then was forgotten. He does not have the attention span necessary to be President. Any move by him to run for President will only further splinter the conservative movement and Republican chances.

Posted by: St. Thor at September 13, 2007 06:50 AM

Wasn't Newt squishy on the border issue?
I can't recall exactly, but I think he and Rudy share a similar position on that issue.

Posted by: Tink at September 13, 2007 07:01 AM

Whether Newt throws his name into the hat or not, we should look at ALL the candidates honestly, and finally decide to support the man who shares our conservative convictions on the issues of defeating the enemy, security, immigration, taxes, etc., without compromise; without settling for 'the lesser of two evils' that we have gotten so used to accepting. The country is ready for (and needs) a real conservative this time. Someone who will radically shake things up (in a good way). Not a watered down version that seems conservative by comparison to Hillary Clinton or any of the other Democrats.

We have a chance this time. There are a couple of Republican candidates who are right-on on all the things we care about. Do we want to turn this thing around or do we merely want to manage the problems? I believe that is the question we must ask ourselves this time. The stakes are WAY too high.

I don't want another 'politician', darn it. I want a patriot.

Posted by: girlsgotrhythm at September 13, 2007 07:55 AM

I agree with St. Thor. Newt should stay in his think tank. He's the kind of person who gets you all excited about going white water rafting and then after you start making arrangements he changes his mind and wants to go mountain climbing. In any case, he's unelectable. He has a whole lot of garbage the Dems and EM can dump on him. A shame to have to take things like that into account, but true.

Maybe we should just start thinking about Petraeus in 2012. I wonder what his political leanings are.

Posted by: pat_s at September 13, 2007 08:17 AM

Newt would make a great advisor or policy team member but not a President. His glory days are gone, and his personal reputation is poor.

I'd rather see him as Secretary of State.

Posted by: ashleymatt at September 13, 2007 08:22 AM

Being "so unimpressed with the field so far," makes me wonder why you are not impressed with the conservative record and campaign speech of Mike Huckabee. What has he said or done so far to disappoint?

Posted by: Terry Burr at September 13, 2007 10:49 AM

Gingrich is a brilliant, eloquent man. Would love him in the debates. However...following are some excerpts from a paper written by Newt April 26,2006:

Ending the Dishonesty: The Way Forward on Border Control and Patriotic Immigration

“…ensure that new immigrants learn to be American.” – Okay. Like it…

“While strongly encouraging those immigrants who want to become citizens, it is important that we accept only those who want to embrace American values and culture.” –Sounds good…

“…it does mean that we must have a humanitarian period of transition as we replace an illegal pattern of immigration with a legal one.”— (Could be problematic.) Going…

“There need NOT be any roundups of those who are working and living here illegally. Instead there should be a humanitarian period of transition..."-(Oh no.) Going…

“There will be NO criminalizing of those who provide humanitarian assistance to those who are living and working here illegally, such as provided by churches or charities.”—Gone!

On a more superficial note: I don't want a "doughy-looking" president. I want someone who looks like he could literally kick some ass.

Posted by: Kimj7157 at September 13, 2007 12:13 PM

Hillary's greatest weakness may be her strong negatives. A lot of people are turned off by her. I think this is largely a reaction to her personality rather than her politics.

Unfortunately, Newt also has sky-high negatives. He's the man the Left loves to hate. You and I might regard this as a badge of honor, but it makes it hard for a leader to move forward. Ronald Reagan faced endless mudslinging, but he knew how to overwhelm that sort of nastiness. That's a rare ability. It's similar to Bill Clinton's magical power to appear dignified while being caught in flagrante delicto.

As a matter of pure strategy, the Republican goal would be to run someone with a lower negative profile. Strategically speaking, Giuliani is as close to Teflon as you're going to get. Aside from his messy marriages, he's hard to go negative on. And Hillary is in no position to exploit anybody else's marital discord.

It seems vulgar to be discussing political strategy when we need to elect a leader who will battle evil and save the nation. But this is a reality we can't ignore.

Posted by: Talkin Horse at September 13, 2007 01:51 PM

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