Newt Gingrich 2012 Exploratory Committee Mystery Continues

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will begin raising money to test whether a bid for the GOP presidential nomination is feasible, his spokesman told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

Gingrich is set to talk about the step at a news conference Thursday at the state Capitol in his home state of Georgia where he has a meeting with the governor. Tyler told the AP that Gingrich "is entering the exploratory phase" of a presidential candidacy.

He is stopping short of setting up an exploratory committee, which would have made him a legal candidate. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, oversee a web of commercial and nonprofit ventures and must tie up some loose ends with those businesses before they can take that step, Tyler said.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Alarm bells went off in the Gingrich camp Tuesday night when news broke that Mr. Gingrich planned to announce he would launch a presidential exploratory committee during a Thursday trip to the Georgia statehouse. In one story, a longtime strategist confirmed the announcement on the record.

Despite multiple outlets reporting Gingrich would announce the launch of an exploratory committee, Tyler called the words "significantly inaccurate," according to the Journal. He told the AP, however, "this is a serious exploratory phase."

Earlier Wednesday, Fox News Channel suspended the contracts of Gingrich and Rick Santorum, another on-air contributor, for two months as they explore possible White House runs.

The 67-year-old Gingrich is doing what is known by the Federal Elections Commission as testing the waters.

That means he can raise and spend money to hire staff and conduct polling to gauge how much support he would have for a presidential bid. He will only have to disclose his fundraising and spending if he ultimately jumps into the race.

Getting into the race would mark a comeback attempt for Gingrich, who led the Republican Party to a sweeping victory in the midterm elections of 1994. It gave the GOP a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Gingrich rose to House speaker in 1995, but was effectively ousted by his own party four tumultuous years later.

A spending fight between Gingrich and President Bill Clinton led to a shutdown of part of the federal government in 1995 and 1996. He left Congress in 1999. In recent years, he's stayed in the public eye speaking on issues from health care to foreign affairs.

Comments

[gamer87]

09:36 PM on 03/04/2011

I predict that he will win.. I also think it'll be a mistake to try to attack him on personal issues, regarding his marriage ect. People are more concerned with the future of the country, and in many cases desperate for leadership. They do not feel that they are getting that from this president and administration, including many who voted for him. It was the same when Obama ran, the Republicans were a mess, things were getting bad nobody really cared about Obama's past and felt he had the best ideas for moving America forward... Well he doesn't, and he's made that quite clear so have and will the voters not to mention things have become worse.

Gingrich is quite an intelligent person, and historian so he'll definitely crush everyone in debates including Obama. He's also been coming up with some pretty interesting ideas for the future of the country, since before the 2008 election. If he runs on those ideas, first and hardest and then expose Obama's weaknesses, and the majority of Independents like his ideas, and are more concerned with the country, and not his bad marriages... Then we'll have President Gingrich in 2012 plain and simple.

[bart4u]

06:52 PM on 03/04/2011

I did not know that Lego hair came in gray. Now I do.

[Bega]

02:20 PM on 03/04/2011

We are told Newt became a Baptist in graduate school. What was his religion before graduate school?

[210]

02:27 PM on 03/03/2011

Can hardly wait for the dirt to start flying around when Newt throws his hat into the presidential ring. His "born again" facade won't fly with many. Three marriages don't sit too well with his newly acquired religious conversion.

[gamer87]

09:44 PM on 03/04/2011

I don't care about the dirt of his marriages... That's not going to make the economy better, or this country safer. I do not hate or dislike Obama, but I do not think his ideas move this country forward to where it needs to be. I do not want to hear silly crap about his faith, or his birth. What someone does in their personal life is of no concern to me, just as long as they lead well.

[ZappaFreak]

01:55 PM on 03/03/2011

Dear Newt,

Not enough of the population has died that we have collectively forgotten how horrible you were for America and humanity in general.

Again I say, save that money to move to Canada after the GOP finishes ruining America. Not the sharpest tool in the shed...that's for sure.

ZF

[gamer87]

09:47 PM on 03/04/2011

Country's been under ruination for awhile my friend, and both parties had a huge hand in that. I do not think Democrats are bad, or Republicans are bad... There's just a lot of really bad politicians in both parties, and unfortunately its the bad ones that tend to get more of the spotlight.

[ZappaFreak]

07:38 AM on 03/07/2011

Yes, we agree on that. However, if I had to split the blame by percentage it would be GOP 75%, Dems 25%.

So, even though I know that the Dems are either chicken or complicit, I still think the majority of bad policy this last 30 years belongs to the GOP. Wars and all...

ZF

[Artos]

11:58 AM on 03/03/2011

Gingrich should take his Exploratory Committee and strike out for some distant Galaxy where he might find a more welcoming World to live on. One that has Sulphur as it's breathable atmosphere.

[TYRANNASAURUS]

10:58 AM on 03/03/2011

The Continuing Mystery Of Newt Gingrich's Possible 2012 Candidacy>

That LOSER shouldn't waste his time.............no one wants him.

[Sinister Minister]

10:51 AM on 03/03/2011

"That means he can raise and spend money "

There you have the primary motive of Newt.

Money is power in a capitalist society and Newt loves power.

He must have nightmares of being third in line to the presidency and blowing his chance of ever getting closer.

[Dr Scott]

10:17 AM on 03/03/2011

I'm wondering who is advising Newt that a run for president is a good idea? This guy is definitely not living in the real world. Doesn't he know that the only person who likes him is himself. He has zero chance of winning the nomination. Palin would beat him on that account.

[Sinister Minister]

10:54 AM on 03/03/2011

By forming his exploratory committee he can do what he does best, take money from people who hope to buy some influence.

[therblig]

10:09 AM on 03/03/2011

Newt 2012 has about as much viability as January 2013 on a Mayan calendar.

[MountPanic]

10:02 AM on 03/03/2011

What's the mystery?

As desperately as he WANTS to run, he even MORE desperately wants to be begged by the nation and can't understand why those pleas aren't coming.

Sorry Noot, I know you need to be loved to fill that black hole in your heart, but being a hateful SOB is kind of a self-defeating behavior on that track.

[IsyFleur]

09:54 AM on 03/03/2011

Run, Newt, run! Lest you be the last of the Republicans not running ;)

[CPNASH]

09:52 AM on 03/03/2011

Oh, Please! Hasn't this one already done enough damage?!

[AtticusinPa]

09:44 AM on 03/03/2011

Newt Gingrich (or, in Garrison Keillor's immortal phrase "Newt the Toot") is waiting. The longer he waits the more Americans will forget. Forget 1995. Forget shutting down the government. Forget his many marriage vows shattered and left in pieces on the floor. He has a lot of moral baggage to forget and time only helps him.

[flossophy]

09:50 AM on 03/03/2011

I think American's will remember the 90's to be a period of prosperity, balanced budgets, low unemployment and surpluses. 

That certainly is a lot of baggage for Newt to carry. 

Perhaps we should shut down the government again to achieve these results.

[Flight19]

10:28 AM on 03/03/2011

I think American's will remember the 90's to be a period of prosperity­, balanced budgets, low unemployme­nt and surpluses.
----------------------------------
It was a Democratic President at the time.
That's what Americans remember.
None of the things you mentioned have happened during any Republican Presidency in your lifetime.

[Steve Magruder]

10:36 AM on 03/03/2011

Clinton's handling of the economy from the executive branch, with Greenspan at the fed, did the vast majority of that magic.

[boscobear]

09:38 AM on 03/03/2011

Newton being the smart man he is, is beginng to sense a Republican disaster in 2012 and wants no part of it. He'll stay on the sidelines, urging others to enter the fray and self destruct. He'll wait untill 2016 when Obama will be gone and he'll emerge as a top contender on the Republican side.