Michael Reagan wrote an interesting article that suggested that Newt Gingrich might enter the presidential race as a dark horse candidate at the convention. I hope he is right. His article argues that most of the conservative Republican base are dissatisfied with the choices that they are being presented for the presidential nomination.
All of a sudden you've got this Republican primary coming down to McCain, Romney, and Ron Paul. With all this uncertainty, just where can a conservative go? All of a sudden radio talk-show hosts, who reflect the opinions of grass-roots conservative voters, are all over the lot, hammering on Rudy, hammering on Romney, hammering on McCain, and hammering on Paul.
Listening to them you get an idea who they want or don't want. They don't like McCain. Most probably they support either Huckabee or Romney. Although they think Rudy is gone, he could come back however, if he wins in Florida next Tuesday.
If Huckabee is finished, I think they go to Romney, who is somewhat more conservative than the rest. At any rate, conservatives could be faced with backing either McCain, or Romney, or Huckabee or even Rudy.
Or they could end up backing none of them.
This option is exactly the one Rush Limbaugh suggested on his show recently. Frankly, I have heard from many of the folks that I have talked to or whose blogs I have read that are so disillusioned that they are actually considering not voting at all.
I personally believe that this would be great foolishness on the part of the Christian community and the conservatives. Sometimes you are presented with nothing but bad choices. I personally would prefer to choose the least bad of those bad choices. I think that it is irresponsible to do otherwise.
But what if there were another option that 'miraculously' appeared at the last minute? What if a true conservative with well-thought-out solutions to the challenges facing America were to come onto the scene? Reagan thinks that just might happen with Gingrich.
Well, who recently has come out with a new book? Who's doing all the shows talking about his new book? Who is advocating common sense solutions to the most pressing problems America faces?
Newt Gingrich, that's who. He was out of the race for a long time; he toyed with the idea of running until Fred Thompson entered the race; and then he more or less pulled back.
Why Newt? Ask yourself why Ronald Reagan won. He won because he was able to excite a group of people in America that the liberal wing of the Republican Party has never excited – the grass roots.
Newt Gingrich is the last Republican to do that — to reach out to the grass roots, to all those conservative Republicans and Reagan Democrats. Remember, it was Newt who engineered the miraculous Republican take-over of Congress in 1994 — something that was deemed impossible two years after Bill Clinton won the White House. …
If Newt throws his hat in the ring he knows that in the blink of an eye he's got the grass roots behind him.
Well, one thing is certain. Nobody is out there actually providing well-thought-out solutions besides Newt. Everyone else is all blah, blah, blah, rhetoric, rhetoric, pontificate, pontificate, obfuscate, blah. After reading Newt's Winning the Future I am convinced that this is a man who has thought about our nation's situation thoroughly and intelligently. He has identified our greatest threats and has presented some very logical, common sense solutions to these sticky problems.
The only problem is that Newt denies having any interest in the Presidency. According to an article at Newsmax:
Gingrich also reacted to a recent column by pundit Michael Reagan, in which Reagan said he would support Gingrich for the GOP nomination if the process were deadlocked and the choice had to be brokered at the GOP convention.
“I was very flattered by Mike Reagan’s comments, he’s a terrific guy,” Gingrich said. “I think we’re going to pick a nominee in the next few weeks, and I think it will be one of the guys currently running.”
Gingrich left open the possibility that he would accept an offer to run as vice president, however. “I would feel compelled to consider it,” he told Newsmax. “But it would depend on what the platform was, and what the agreement was about relative roles. But I certainly would not turn it down out of hand.”
Well, let me say this, Mr. Gingrich: as far as I'm concerned Mr. Reagan is right. If your name was on the ballot I would unreservedly give you my support. I wouldn't say that about anyone currently campaigning.
Update:
I just found this in an article with CNN.:
The radical realist (Newt Gingrich) who defied conventional wisdom 12 years ago by stealing the House out from under the noses of entrenched Democrats now plans a surprise attack for the presidency. "I'm going to tell you something, and whether or not it's plausible given the world you come out of is your problem," he tells Fortune. "I am not 'running' for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen." So he's running, only without yet formally saying so.
The article is pretty old, but all I can say is, "I hope they are right."
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