Newt Gingrich in 2012? Got any better suggestions?
As we said a couple days ago, there's always a slogan.
You know, Barack Obama's successful "Yes we can" or Walter Mondale's failed "America needs a change" or James Blaine's "Ma, Ma, Where's my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha" (That one failed too. Ask President Blaine).
So with news today that Newt Gingrich is considering a run for president in 2012, there are any number of slogans you could try, like:
"You got any other suggestions?" or "Hey, I'm not Joe the Plumber!" or "Newt-Rush 2012: We'll talk your ear off."
Kickin' it around
The former Speaker of the House told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he and his wife are thinking about it.
"Callista and I will look seriously, and we'll probably get our family totally engaged, including our two grandchildren, probably in January 2011, and we'll look seriously at whether or not we think its necessary to do it," he said.
Star Trek
If you saw him at the CPAC convention last week - or Star Trek convention as Chris Matthews called it - you know that he can still deliver a good speech and he's not afraid to mix it up.
Matthews often says that the only argument Republicans have left is that they don't like taxes. He says that's it. That's the only thing binds the GOP together.
Gingrich played that tax card at the Star Trek convention. As Joe Biden said of his current boss, he's articulate and bright -- and he knows how to frame an argument.
We don't need no taxes
When discussing the president's promise not to raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000, Gingrich said it's best to overlook that energy tax item in the budget.
"Let me get this straight, we’re not going to raise taxes on anyone below $250,000 a year unless you use electricity," he said. "And we’re not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year unless you buy gasoline, and we’re not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 unless you buy heating oil, and we’re not going to raise taxes on anyone under $250,000 a year unless you use natural gas."
Ha ha
Gingrich has a sense of humor as well, which helps him deliver an argument.
"I actually believe the group that will be least taxed under the new plan are the Amish in central Pennsylvania," he said to much Vulcan laughter.
Polling
Although Politico's Ben Smith cautions would-be supporters of Newt throwing out a 2007 poll showing him to have only a 22 percent approval rating, the Washington Post's Jon Cohen notes a Gallup poll taken after the 2008 election which could give Gingrich supporters some hope.
"Republicans and GOP-leaning independents split evenly on the question of whether the former speaker should seek their party's nomination; 47 percent said they'd like to see him run, 47 percent would prefer he sit out," he writes.
