# Newt Gingrich for POTUS in 2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 14, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100 "2009-04-14T18:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/21 "2009-04-15T01:53:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Per the below I think his admitted adultery would blow him out of the water re being a national candidate. As opposed to, say, John McCain’s admitted adultery? All he has to do is say that he repents of it, and it’ll be a nonissue. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/22 "2009-04-15T02:34:24Z")
I’m not sure Newt is really serious about running. I’m thinking he’s just trying to keep his name out there. During this slow time in politics, he can get some time on the tv talk shows and perhaps increase his book sales as well as keep his speaking fee up on the lecture circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/23 "2009-04-15T03:19:57Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Consider that at this point in Bush’s second term, Obama was still an Illinois state senator, most of us were reacting to predictions that Hillary Clinton would run with a “WTF?!” and John Edwards was still the losing VP candidate. Nobody knows what the ground is going to look like in three years. No one. I do. The Republicans will nominate [Mark Sanford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford). ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/24 "2009-04-15T04:49:12Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I thought he had faded into the mists a decade ago. He fades into the gas mist of Fox News pundits weekly. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/25 "2009-04-15T05:13:09Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I do. The Republicans will nominate [Mark Sanford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford). Doesn’t have a son, does he? You know, Bush and son, then… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/26 "2009-04-15T06:00:07Z")
It’s a long, long way to an election. The Republican campaign won’t even start for a couple of years. Anything can happen in that time. Newt is clearly positioning himself for a run now. Whether he actually does will depend on what the culture looks like for conservatives in a year or two. If the economy continues to tank, there will be a yearning for someone like Gingrich, who’s a policy wonk who knows economics quite well and has a Ph.D in history. I do think we’re heading back into a period when social issues begin to fade from prominence. They tend to become more important in times of peace and prosperity, and I doubt we’ll have much of that for the next while. So I have a suspicion that the Republicans wil gravitate towards someone more focused on economics or security. Whether that will be Gingrich or not, I don’t know. He certainly has a lot of baggage to overcome. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/27 "2009-04-15T18:16:56Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > has a Ph.D in history. = elitist. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/28 "2009-04-15T20:48:06Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Bachmann (R-Batshit) groundswell is building. I want a Palin-Bachmann bumper sticker… ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/29 "2009-04-15T23:33:57Z")
I am waiting for Stewart Colbert 2016! ---
**Author:** ![wsbenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@wsbenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wsbenge)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100/30 "2009-04-16T03:53:57Z")
Didn’t Gingrich lose his own district when he was majority leader? For all his big talk about the Contract With America, he was ineffective. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newt-gingrich-for-potus-in-2012/493100.md?page=1)