Newt Gingrich tells Georgia Republicans he’ll be a candidate in ‘12
In the last 24 hours, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich has touched base with several prominent Republicans in his former home state, telling them that he intends to make a run for president in 2012 using Georgia as his base – and that he already has his eye on office space in Buckhead for a campaign headquarters.
Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich
Gingrich met on Thursday with Nathan Deal, whom Gingrich endorsed during a critical phase of last year’s Republican primary for governor.
House Speaker David Ralston introduced Gingrich Thursday night at a downtown Atlanta affair hosted by the Paulding County Chamber of Commerce.
The visits and conversations – some face-to-face, others on the phone — appear to be an attempt by Gingrich to revive his old campaign network and lock down as much support as possible in a state won by Republican Mike Huckabee in the 2008 presidential primary.
A spokeswoman for Johnny Isakson said Gingrich called the U.S. senator earlier this month – adding that Gingrich was not definite about his plans in that conversation. In an interview on Friday, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he had not talked to Gingrich yet, but that the former U.S. House speaker had asked for an appointment in the near future. “He said, ‘I need a significant amount of your time,’” Chambliss said.
Gingrich, 67, is registered to vote in Virginia, and has a Virginia driver’s license. But he spent most of his adult life in Georgia, and from 1979 until 1999 — the last three years as speaker — Gingrich was a congressman from metro Atlanta.
Gingrich most recent visit here was clearly an attempt to lock down as much support as possible in a state won by Republican Mike Huckabee in the 2008 presidential primary. In a meeting with reporters, Gingrich emphasized his Georgia roots.
“My offices are here. My grandchildren are here. I’m here regularly,” Gingrich said at a Thursday news conference at his Center for Health Transformation in suburban Atlanta. “I helped create the modern Republican Party in Georgia starting in 1960. I have a certain fondness for being back in Atlanta.”
Perhaps more important, fundraising for Gingrich’s American Solutions organization is conducted out of Atlanta.
However, Rick Tyler, a spokesman for Gingrich, contacted Friday, said the former House speaker’s schedule for deciding on a 2012 presidential run had not changed. “His plans are to decide on whether to create an exploratory committee in late February, and make a decision about his candidacy in March,” Tyler said.
But Tyler said that Atlanta shouldn’t be ruled out as a headquarters – should Gingrich join the presidential contest.
For Gingrich, the key question is whether or not he can recreate an enthusiastic political base in Georgia more than a decade after he left it. There is no guarantee. Take, for instance, Saxby Chambliss. In a session with reporters, the U.S. senator said:
“Newt is my friend. He’s been a mentor, in some respects, since he was speaker when I got elected [to Congress].”
“But it’s a different world right now, and we’ve got to make sure that whoever the nominee is , that he can win in November. That’s the goal of every Republican right now. John Thune[, the U.S. senator from South Dakota,] is a very close friend. He’s talked to me about his potential campaign.
“I’m going to keep my powder dry.”
While Chambliss said he would pay good money to watch a debate between Gingrich and President Barack Obama, and has several strong points — his communication skills, and his familiarity with both fiscal issues and health care. But Chambliss has questions about Gingrich’s viability:
“Newt hasn’t said this to me, but he’s obviously aware of all the negative aspects of the campaign. And I’d be curious to hear from him why he thinks he can win in spite of that.
“In presidential campaigns now, you have to do something in Iowa. You may not have to win Iowa, but you’ve got to make a good showing in Iowa. Then you’ve either got to win or make a good showing in New Hampshire – if you don’t win Iowa.
Then if you don’t win New Hampshire or Iowa, you’ve got to win South Carolina. Can Newt do that?”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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577 comments Add your comment
fraizer
January 22nd, 2011
4:35 pm
All his opponents have to do is rerun that global warming commercial with him sitting on the couch with Nancy.
What schmuck. Just another blowhard politician.
The country needs leaders, not schmucks.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 22nd, 2011
4:36 pm
somnolence: “a Palin supporter”
Cute fails you. One must be a moron, a traitor, a fascist to support Palin.
Somnolence
January 22nd, 2011
4:37 pm
Will, you really do need to consult a thesaurus instead of a dictionary occasionally. Life begins at conception no matter what. Donald Trump and Giuliani never stand a chance at being President due to their stances on abortion. Only a monster like yourself could fail to be appalled at what was uncovered in Philadelphia in the past week. Nice try with your pitiful accusation, but I wouldn’t count on your prowess at Scrabble to get you through.
rick
January 22nd, 2011
4:42 pm
He would easily get the nomination and easily beat obama
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 22nd, 2011
4:42 pm
Another RC seminary/church/nunnery basement filled with fetuses in Philly? Spill, papist false American.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 22nd, 2011
4:46 pm
somnolence: RC priest or amateur wannabe?
Somnolence
January 22nd, 2011
4:51 pm
No, just on the side of human life. I’m certainly not in a position to judge you. I’ll leave that to a higher power. Call me a papist all you want, because I kind of like it, BTW I’m not Roman Catholic, either. May your conscience rest easy; that is, if you have one.
cmc
January 22nd, 2011
4:56 pm
Glad he’s in, he will become the last republican elite to run. His coming beatdown in the primaries will sound the final bell for the old guard republican elitists. Tea Party is mainstream america and Sarah Palin is the cornerstone of the movement.
San Diego Steve
January 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
Newt, your time has passed. Forget it and save the money.
howdy doody
January 22nd, 2011
5:08 pm
Newt had 18 years to make America a better place. He failed horribly. He is the past and the future conservatives want a return to constitutional principals and a smaller less intrusive government. Take your grandkids fishing and leave the future to those of us who want to put your kind of politician in the trash heap of history.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 22nd, 2011
5:11 pm
Supporters of Palin’s advocacy of self-justifying abomination have no conscience.
Flubber
January 22nd, 2011
5:11 pm
We don’t need newt of all people with all the good candicates out there
moutainhiker
January 22nd, 2011
5:16 pm
I am a democrat ,but I would vote for NEWT over obama, because I dont think obama has done any thing for our country ,every time there is a ploblem to deal with ,obama takes a vacation to hawaiian island
Lowcountry Jacket
January 22nd, 2011
5:18 pm
Newt a patriot? A great conservative? I don’t know about all that… I do know he’s a globalist and a member of the un-american Council on Foreign Relations. I know he’s just another politician who talks out of both sides of his mouth, saying one thing to the conservative base and another thing to whatever audience is listening. Exhibit A: the commercial Newt did with Nancy Pelosi on the need to fight global warming. Some conservative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154
Dave
January 22nd, 2011
5:25 pm
I think Palin is going to neuter the newt fairly early as she will with all the GOP contenders. Then she will have the Chicago machine socialist stuttering uuuhhhh uuuhhh in the first 5 minutes of a presidential debate. Watching the liberals go crazy will be a lot of fun.
Rick Austin
January 22nd, 2011
5:34 pm
I like Newt’s message, but he has much personal and political baggage. IMO he is a better strategist for a more palatable candidate or the party in general. I’ve also played the drinking game that during his radio and TV interviews, I do a shot each time he pimps his books or website. I’m usually passed out before the interviews are over.
Tony DePalma
January 22nd, 2011
5:41 pm
They can all get ready and have this advantage or that advantage in the end the nominee if she runs hands down will be Palin and she is qualified more then Obama, Biden, or McCain. Palin/Bachmann. newt could not run the house he’s ego gets in the way he is great inopposittion but not a leader.
Ben Dover
January 22nd, 2011
5:42 pm
Newt, you got me “NO” vote buddy!
gili4
January 22nd, 2011
6:02 pm
I’ll not condone voting for any Republican elitist like Romney or Gingrich or Huckaby, etc. These ‘idiots’ are almost as socialist as the Obama socialist are or the Bush’s were! We need a true Conservative to replace the ‘old guard’ in Washington who will be committed to restoring our Constitutional freedoms and bring government back to manageable form. None of these Republican elitists will do that.
The GOP is brain dead
January 22nd, 2011
6:17 pm
Given intelligence, qualifications, experience, and moral integrity are all trumped by ideology in the GOP I have a modest proposal. Why not see if you can get Tom Delay’s prison sentence commuted and overturn the House Ethics Committee’s fine against Newt overturned and allow them both to run?
Joe D
January 22nd, 2011
6:23 pm
GOP is brain dead,
That fine against Newt was precious. 75 charges brought up from shameless David Bonior and one stuck. Something wrong with paying taxes on a college course he taught. You must’ve really been scared of him back then.
The GOP is brain dead
January 22nd, 2011
6:24 pm
I wonder if Palin can find a church in D.C. to have a laying on of hands ceremony to ward off the witches who might seize her in her sleep? I am sure that those witches must be…liberals right?
The GOP is brain dead
January 22nd, 2011
6:25 pm
Joe, yes, they were much more serious than the bogus witch hunt engaged in by Newt while he was banging his mistress.
Want some more or have you had your ignorant butt kicked enough?
d
January 22nd, 2011
6:27 pm
Newt, I would appreciate it if you would just use your vast resources and contacts to help get Herman Cain the nomination. I like you, but it is time for new blood!
Buster
January 22nd, 2011
6:32 pm
Nice to see the libs so vexed and making the usual emotional / immature versus rational remarks. A true sign Newt will do well. The chimp is a one termer.
Fool's Gold
January 22nd, 2011
6:32 pm
Well that makes two Georgians who want to be president, the other being Herman Cain. Both good men, both have about as much chance as the proverbial snowball. Mitt Romney will be the 2012 GOP nominee.
hawkeyez
January 22nd, 2011
6:34 pm
I’m voting to Bobby Jendal. Can’t wait to watch the racist democrats squirm.
Barry Rogers
January 22nd, 2011
6:35 pm
Being a representative of the people was voluntary in original intent. Why don’t these people ever go home, and shut up? We need a “one term” for anyone elected. Period.
The GOP is brain dead
January 22nd, 2011
6:36 pm
I guess being a hypocrite leading the charge against someone for adultery is ok if you are in the GOP. And I guess it is ok to repeatedly violate the 6th commandment while professing to be a Christian as long as you marry the object of your adultery. Well, you have to do that and kiss the ring of Jerry Falwell and ask forgiveness which he then grants in a press conference afterward! (Yes, Mr. Family values still lags behind his media ally in Rush Limbaugh who is on wife number four.)
But the homophobic, rapture believing, evolution denying wacko Falwell is dead now and not sophisticated enough for the pseudo-intellectual Newt anymore so he is converting to Catholicism the religion of his last wife and former staff member. (He managed to hide that 6 year affair almost as well as he hid the evidence which eventually yielded up the $300,000 fine.)
But the semi-literate conservative with religious leanings you always have Palin and her witch warding African ministers to vote for. What a circus! Do you guys do bring forth these vapid and grotesque creatures as a freak show to entertain liberals?
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6:36 pm
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Quilter 77
January 22nd, 2011
6:38 pm
Gingrich is a very smart, intelligent man. I think he would have made a good President. However, he has way too much baggage. Asking your wife for divorce as she is battling cancer is not the best character trait in a President. Sure, we had Slick Willie in office for 8 years, and everyone knew he was a man-ho and couldn’t keep his pants up. But he is a liberal Democrat. Unfortunately, most liberals I know don’t think that fidelity in marriage is a must-have trait in a President. Conservative Republicans, on the other hand, expect higher moral standards of their candidates. I have seen Gingrich speak, and he is dynamic. But you have to suffer the consequences of your actions and choices in life. His time has passed. There is no way I would vote for this man in the primaries. I will read his books and continue to see him lecture. But he is no longer presidential material, and that is a rotten shame. Republicans need to stand up and take notice of what your choices in life will do to your future ambitions.
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January 22nd, 2011
6:39 pm
[...] he says he’s running… In the last 24 hours, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich has touched base with several [...]
Mark
January 22nd, 2011
6:40 pm
While I agree with most of his politics I couldn’t vote for the fat POS in the GOP primaries under any circumstances. As a human being he repulses me.
Somnolence
January 22nd, 2011
6:43 pm
Sarah Palin won 81% of the vote in the Free Republic Poll just recently held.
SLCajc
January 22nd, 2011
6:48 pm
Not a chance. His career in elected office ended the day he did that disgraceful “Climate Change” ad with Pelosi demonstrating UNBELIEVABLY bad judgement.
Joe D
January 22nd, 2011
6:51 pm
GOP is brain dead,
I’ve submitted 5 or 6 comments to you but they aren’t showing up for some reason. Your comments about Republicans being hypocrites is true in many cases. Nobody is perfect, or is there someone perfect on the liberal side? Obama isn’t perfect, but is actually relatively clean. Sarah Palin is about the same. The difference between the two is that Obama is a social engineer and Sarah wants individual freedom.
RepBast1984
January 22nd, 2011
6:52 pm
UGH another liberal Republican who supports RomneyCare. He better not win.
Daniels/Jindal 2012
RepBast1984
January 22nd, 2011
6:52 pm
Oh yeah and I’m not voting for an adulterer. That Republicans would support him is tragic.
Jerry Irwin
January 22nd, 2011
6:55 pm
Enter your comments here
Uncle C
January 22nd, 2011
6:59 pm
If Gingrich became president we would all need guns. He recently advocated states to declare bankrupsy so they could take people’s pensions. I also suspect He would want to eliminate social security and medicare so he could continue tax cuts for the wealthy. . In other words, take everything from the middle class and give it to the wealthy. Then there will be riots in the streets and a need to protect yourself. . I
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Newt « OBX Tea Party
January 22nd, 2011
7:12 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal-Constitution [...]
Poncho
January 22nd, 2011
7:14 pm
Not surprising. Newt needs to keep is hypocritical ass away from D.C.
I am an American that served his country as a soldier and cop. He is just another carpetbagger . Newt hasn’t a clewt !
cmc
January 22nd, 2011
7:26 pm
Agree 100% with Tony DiPalma. PALIN/BACHMANN. case closed. These two are tougher then nails. Romney, Neat and Rudy G. will make the primarys an easy ride for those two ladys of steel.
georgechapogas
January 22nd, 2011
7:30 pm
newt is smart, right on most issues. but he is yesterday. the republican candidate that can beat obama will be one of our newly elected governors. that leaves out newt, huck, romney and sarah who would all lose. be smart, pick as a winner. get a christi type in there and in 8 years we can win again with mario.
J
January 22nd, 2011
7:34 pm
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is insanity…….politicians cannot fix anything same goes for economist aka propagandist of money value. Wake up people and learn something truly relevant zeitgeist moving forward.
J
January 22nd, 2011
7:37 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxpvyMsRvkw
cmc
January 22nd, 2011
7:48 pm
J agree with your premise. But Palin unlike those others didn’t run on her agenda. She nearly bailed out an overmatched McCain in 08′. But remember that was a watered down version. She had to get her marching orders from the maverick (liberal). This time it will her laybook and beieve she will take no prisoners.
cmc
January 22nd, 2011
7:50 pm
That is playbook.
wolf
January 22nd, 2011
7:53 pm
Newt should get over himself! He is history, and nobody (maybe one on the radio) wants him to run for President.