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Thursday, September 27, 2007
If he ran: Newt Gingrich on why he’d base his effort in Georgia, but live in Virginia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a Thursday sit-down, during a break from his “American Solutions” schedule, Newt Gingrich said that — if he ran for president — he’d center his campaign in Georgia, but would keep his residency in McLean, Va.
“I wanted to stay very active on national security. We looked into this. I live 11 minutes from the CIA, I live 18 minutes from the Pentagon. I spend 40 percent of my time on national security,” Gingrich said. “It would have been dishonest to have pretended that I was coming home.”
The former Georgia congressman also said he would announce on C-Span — rather than on some Jay Leno program. Can’t think of who he might be making reference to.
Also, Gingrich said he needs those $30 million in pledges because, at bottom, he’s still a middle-class shlub.
“All of my immediate relatives are middle class. All of [wife] Calista’s relatives are middle class. And our daughters would say they’re middle-class. That’s who we are,” Gingrich said. “We’re fairly successful, but the idea of writing a $100 million check for a campaign is not part of my lexicon. I also think it’s just wrong. I don’t think we should be buying offices.”
A ‘middle-class’ Gingrich says the door is still wide open
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Newt Gingrich runs for president, it will be as a middle-class shlub just like you.
As part of his “American Solutions” weekend, Gingrich is spending this entire day at the Cobb Galleria convention center. This morning, he spent a half-hour with Neal Boortz — the radio talk show was on site.
Gingrich spoke of his need to know if there’s $30 million out there for him, before he decides to run for president.
“If you’re middle class and you can’t have that level of resources when you go in, then you don’t stand a chance against governor [Mitt] Romney, who can can write a $100 million check personally,” Gingrich said.
But he admitted he still considers the gap in the Republican field to be unusually wide.
“I really thought that by the time we had the workshops at the end of September, that the space would be filled up. I frankly thought this would not be an open question,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people walk up and say we need someone who can debate Senator [Hillary] Clinton, we need somebody who can make the case for conservative values. So I think there is a bigger vacuum than I would have expected.”
About 50 people saw the morning episode with Boortz, including one fellow who was quickly ousted after shouting, “How much did you get for your soul?”
And after signing several autographs, Gingrich posed with Vonnell Whitaker, a local Hillary Clinton lookalike.
“You may have a long career,” he told her.
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Gingrich chooses a grand, windy entrance into Carrollton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newt Gingrich kicks off his “American Solutions” adventure today with an all-day event at the Cobb Galleria. Radio jocks Boortz and Hannity both will broadcast from there.
Officially, the event is intended to launch a high-minded discussion of solutions to this country’s problems. But the subtext is all about whether or not Gingrich will answer a GOP cry of despair over the current field, and decide to make a run for the White House.
On Friday, Gingrich visits his old stomping grounds, now called the University of West Georgia, where he once taught history. And here’s where the subtext becomes more distinct.
Gingrich will arrive on campus via helicopter, presidential-like, perhaps offering photographers and bystanders a sense of what the future might look like.
Or maybe the man just understands Atlanta traffic.
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