I wouldn’t say it’s certain that Newt Gingrich is running for president, but he certainly sounds like a guy inclined to run.
Newt spoke at an American Spectator breakfast this morning: Among the more intriguing comments:
- Newt thinks the most likely Democratic ticket will be Hillary-Obama.
- Newt said that if by mid-October, there is one or more conservative candidates that appears to be able to go toe-to-toe with a Hillary-Obama ticket, he will not run. While Newt didn’t come out an explicitly say this, the tone of his comments indicate that he doesn’t believe any of the current candidates fit that bill.
- I think Newt took a veiled shot at Thompson with his comment, “We’ll have to see if Fred Thompson is as decisive a frontrunner as John McCain was, or better.” More explicit was his comment, “Fred Thompson has departed the world of television in order to enter the world of television.” (A young bright conservative affiliated with Thompson’s not-yet-campaign was among the attendees.)
- When talking about the state of modern politics, he referred to “John McCain’s insane rules on campaign finance.”
- He didn’t say much about the other candidates, other than one reference to “Giuiani and Romney are running around.” He did say, when asked about a bid by Michael Bloomberg, that Giuliani cleaned up New York City and that Bloomberg had built upon that. Beyond that, he was derisive of Bloomberg, dismissing him as a man who had spent $91 per vote. Gingrich predicted many Americans would feel insulted by a man who “tried to buy his way into the presidency” and suggest Bloomberg had not considered the enormous differences between running in New York City and running across the country.
More details coming soon…