Newt Gingrich Has Not Talked To Rick Perry About VP Slot, Top Aide Says

WASHINGTON -- A senior aide to Newt Gingrich told The Huffington Post late Sunday that the former House Speaker from Georgia has not spoken with Texas Gov. Rick Perry about naming him as a running mate.

"Of course we think very highly of Gov. Perry and appreciate very much his generous support, but this is not a topic the two principals have discussed," Kevin Kellems, a senior adviser to Gingrich, told HuffPost in an e-mail.

Fox News' Carl Cameron reported Sunday that senior Gingrich aides were discussing naming Perry as a running mate, with some indication that the rumor was floated in part to influence Republican voters in Mississippi and Alabama, who will go to the polls in primary elections on Tuesday.

Gingrich has come under pressure to consider dropping out of the race, as former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) racked up a series of wins on Super Tuesday this past week and then again on Saturday in Kansas. Most of the calls for Gingrich to end his run have come from those who are supportive of Santorum, including a super PAC working on his behalf.

But if Gingrich does not win Mississippi or Alabama, it's likely that there will be talk in the GOP -- beyond Santorum backers -- of giving Santorum a clear, one-on-one shot at frontrunner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

Kellems did not answer a follow up e-mail about whether Gingrich is considering asking Perry to join his ticket.

Comments

[HymnsToSilence]

05:28 AM on 03/15/2012

It is a relief to know that Mr. Gingrich has not talked to Mr. Perry about the position that he does not have to offer.

[Steelsil]

02:17 AM on 03/15/2012

LOL!  Cheech and Chong have a better chanceat getting elected than Gingrich / Perry.

[taxi648]

11:29 PM on 03/14/2012

Great campaign slogan; The Arrogant and the Ignorant

[lindsay2727]

12:05 AM on 03/13/2012

Talking to perry must have been the third thing on newts list and he just forgot it.

[Lois Eisenberg]

11:10 PM on 03/12/2012

Newt and Rick a double dose of nothing !!!

[Weeweed Up]

06:04 PM on 03/12/2012

My gardener did such a good job this week that I'm thinking of asking him to be my VP when I throw my hat in the ring at the GOP convention in Tampa in August. Brokered convention, here we come.

[Lobo912]

05:50 PM on 03/12/2012

I've already taken Rick off the short list when I win the nomination, which is certainly as likely as Newt winning it.

[George McAulay]

04:51 PM on 03/12/2012

Reminds me of a jilted bride desperately looking around at the ceremony for someone else to marry her

[grayplace]

04:23 PM on 03/12/2012

A Gingrich-Perry paring would be like the De.lusional leading the Br.ain-de.ad

[too young but old enough]

04:10 PM on 03/12/2012

For all of his support, Newt has instead decided to make Rick Parry (A for America!) the Governor of Moon Base Alpha.

[benjamincardozo]

03:23 PM on 03/12/2012

OMG what a nightmare ticket...UGH....funny (scary) thing is that it might be a popular combination for the great unwashed...maybe overloaded just a teeny tiny eentsy little bit right wing even for the current demographic and Obama haters and uninformed/easily influenced/naive...time to move to Canada...maybe they should show us their birth certificates first...

[Rascal7]

02:42 PM on 03/12/2012

Impossible. Toad Palin has already paid him off.

[Gary St Lawrence]

01:40 PM on 03/12/2012

Uh huh ... and Newt Gingrich has never lied, cheated on a wife, been divorced, been fined, or been removed from office by his own party.

it's staggering to think how many people are dim enough to believe this cr@p.

[MAF33]

04:44 PM on 03/12/2012

Theo Roosevelt was thrown out of his own party. He was a pretty good president.

[Weeweed Up]

05:51 PM on 03/12/2012

Newt will never, ever, ever be president - good or bad, just never.

[BassMent]

01:26 PM on 03/12/2012

I'd be much more interested who he's going to name Grand Duke of the moon colony.

[Weeweed Up]

05:53 PM on 03/12/2012

Mitt will pander for that too since he's not going to be POTUS here. What kind of food do they eat there, do they have an accent or drawl on the moon, how tall are the trees? Mitt has to study up on stuff like that because it works so well for him right here on earth.

[Steelsil]

02:19 AM on 03/15/2012

Moony cheesy gritz, with real grit!

[jwoww]

01:07 PM on 03/12/2012

the best thing about this artilce which every legitimate news agency reported on was that dumika bryzinski had no clue of this during the 6 AM first segment of the show.

[Weeweed Up]

05:55 PM on 03/12/2012

That's probably because Mika Brzezinski doesn't follow fairy tales. This is too funny to discuss seriously. It's like Bernie Madoff looking for a business partner.........never gonna happen anyway. It's pure entertainment in Gingrich's mind since Perry doesn't own one.