Campaign

Newt’s back

by A.B. Stoddard - 09/16/10 3:59 PM ET

I am still sticking with my wager that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is not actually running
for president in 2012 but that he wants badly for us all to think he
is. The whole exercise raises his profile and his speaking fees and is
good for book contracts and growing the membership of American
Solutions, his “tri-partisan” organization that now boasts 1.5 million
members.

But Sarah Palin’s been upping the game with her
prominent endorsement role in the midterm campaigns. This is making
other 2012 contenders nervous that they may need to grab some of the
spotlight sooner rather than later, before it is, well, swallowed whole
by Palin.

Gingrich has made it clear he won’t be an establishment candidate
like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or Mississippi Gov. Haley
Barbour. He’s going after the same crowd as Palin in the nomination
game. So Gingrich — the now super-conservative, insurgent candidate —
is off to the races this week with his comments about President Obama
and his “Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior.” The president worked what
Gingrich called “a wonderful con” and somehow became leader of the free
world by some great show of acting ability, posits Gingrich. He called
it being “authentically dishonest.”

What a surprise — Gingrich dominated Monday’s news, almost more than
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who also made big Sunday
show news with what the White House was marketing as a capitulation on
tax cuts.

But Monday came to an end, and Tuesday was all about the possibility
that Palin’s candidate, Christine O’Donnell, could actually knock out
Rep. Mike Castle in the GOP Senate primary in Delaware. Then it
happened and, well, Palin won another news cycle or four.

So Wednesday Gingrich did what no other Republican in Washington would do: He took to Twitter and
defended O’Donnell, becoming the only prominent Republican besides —
you guessed it — Sarah Palin to stick up for the perennial losing
candidate with financial troubles, a spotty employment record and the
other troubling questions about her character. Since none other than
Karl Rove had called her “nutty” the night before and said she couldn’t
win, Gingrich stepped up to deem O’Donnell “electable.”

Gingrich may not be headlining any Republican dinners soon in Iowa,
as Palin is, but watch out for his ability to preserve his fair share
of the spotlight. It seems Palin has awoken the Gingrich Grizzly.

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