Newt Gingrich Considers a Run for President

Nine years after his spectacular fall from grace, two-year former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is considering a presidential run. Despite his budget showdown with Democrats, the widespread hatred he engenders, and that episode on Air Force One, coming back from the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, when Gingrich complained that President Clinton would talk to him, Gingrich is feeling the waters, already carrying 10% to Republican support.

Newt Gingrich is not yet officially running, has no exploratory committee, and has raised no money, but is currently third in the standings, behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain, and ahead of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Gingrich has not gone to any of the events, "cattle calls" he calls them, that other Republican candidates have used to watch their campaigns, but already has a high profile.

Gingrich has name recognition above and beyond almost any other, as written five books since 2005, with titles like "rediscovering dot in America," and is planning a "national workshop" in September to mark the 30th anniversary of his contract with America, the legislative agenda that brought the Republicans back into power in Congress after years as a minority.

Many Republicans are somewhat bummed out about his move, now seeing as their only options a frontrunning candidate stained by two messy divorces and a fairly liberal stand on social matters, a middle-of-the-road maverick, and a widely hated right-winger.

Gingrich himself is not free of personal problems. At the same time as he was knocking Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Newt Gingrich had an affair with one of his own staffers, now his wife.

James Dobson, founder of focus on family, says the Gingrich has "fallen short of my own standards," adding that he has "many times fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich agreed to pay $300,000 of his own money to cover the cost of his investigation, and although the Free Congress Foundation has not yet agreed to endorse him, Paul Weyrich, its founder, says that he believes many of the members of his organization will be able to forgive him.

Despite his unpopularity -- 16% of Republicans say they would never vote and as compared to the 10% who say they would -- Gingrich has a very high public profile. He has a daily radio address and 400 stations, a weekly newsletter with 200,000 subscribers, writes many newspaper op-ed pieces, goes on speaking tours, and even writes a bimonthly magazine column for clergy. This year alone, Gingrich plans to make 300 speeches, 40 of them bringing in over $40,000. Additionally, Gingrich runs his own for-profit health-care think tank, which attracts many people willing to pay a great deal of money, eager to have access to him.

In a campaign defined by name recognition, Newt Gingrich will have a great advantage.

Sources:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB117348465056432748-FkcAMJw4O2tIz4iGwIsKahFrC4k_20080308.html