# Will Newt Gingrich run for POTUS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 3, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475 "2007-03-03T23:01:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/61 "2007-03-10T13:51:29Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Congress can impeach for whatever reason it wants; can be a crime, but doesn’t have to be. [/QUOTE] Nope - only for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Don’t bother pretending you need a cite. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/62 "2007-03-10T14:20:35Z")
Which one is making derogatory speeches about Congress, then - a high crime, or just a misdemeanor? :rolleyes: Ref. Articles X and XI in the Andrew Johnson precedent, with which you haven’t bothered to familiarize yourself before accusing those who \*do \* know history of lying. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/63 "2007-03-10T14:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Andrew Johnson was.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson#Impeachment) (Of course, an impeachment charge of “adultery and sexual immorality” would have been preposterous even by **those** standards.) [/QUOTE] So was Nixon. (OK, technically, Nixon wasn’t impeached. But he resigned just ahead of its otherwise certain occurrence, and IMHO is quite valid as a precedent in this discussion.) The article of impeachment that got the most votes in committee was Article 2, Abuse of Power, which passed the House Judiciary Committee, 28-10. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/64 "2007-03-10T14:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] _double :sigh:_ He **was** impeached for adultery and you know it. Lying under oath was the nominal charge simply because it was all they had, adultery itself being no crime. [/QUOTE] Exactly. The Gingrich Congress didn’t have a field day publicizing the details of Clinton’s trysts because they were upset at him for lying under oath. And it’s not like they weren’t doing their best to use the Lewinsky affair to bring him down well before he was answering questions under oath in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/65 "2007-03-10T14:47:52Z")
It did appear that DeLay was whipping the issue far more than Gingrich, who if you’ll recall had already resigned as Speaker before the lame-duck-session impeachment vote. DeLay, filling the void, had the most to do with scuttling the censure resolution that most of Congress appeared to want. But let’s see **Shodan** explain next just who he think \*defines \* what is a “high crime and misdemeanor”, if it isn’t Congress _itself_. That’ll be more fun to read than Gingrich-apologism, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/66 "2007-03-10T14:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Nope - only for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. [/QUOTE] But the Constitution does not **define** them. That is left to Congress – IOW, it’s a political, not a judicial, decision. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/67 "2007-03-10T14:53:41Z")
Prove it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/68 "2007-03-10T14:58:06Z")
Waiter, check please? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/69 "2007-05-14T22:20:21Z")
[Update:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051400425.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday there is a very good chance he’ll get into the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but he won’t decide until after September. > > “I think right now that it is a great possibility,” Gingrich said. “I don’t want to get into all this stuff. I want to focus on what we have to do to make America successful.” > > Gingrich said he plans to hold a workshop on solutions facing the country in September, after which he’ll make a decision on whether to launch a presidential bid. > > He made the comments Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/70 "2007-05-14T22:27:55Z")
What a colossal waste of money that will be. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/71 "2007-05-14T22:33:23Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] What a colossal waste of money that will be. [/QUOTE] The workshop, or the campaign? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/72 "2007-05-14T23:06:05Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] The workshop, or the campaign? [/QUOTE] Yes. 😛 -XT ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/73 "2007-05-14T23:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] The workshop, or the campaign? [/QUOTE] No, just the campaign. Whatever you might think of Gingrich, he’s a very smart guy. He’s just burned too many bridges and is way to polarizing a figure to make it in the presidential race. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/74 "2007-05-14T23:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No, just the campaign. Whatever you might think of Gingrich, he’s a very smart guy. He’s just burned too many bridges and is way to polarizing a figure to make it in the presidential race. [/QUOTE] If he’s smart enough to know that, why is he even talking about running? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/75 "2007-05-14T23:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] If he’s smart enough to know that, why is he even talking about running? [/QUOTE] Maybe he’s angling to be Romney’s Sec of State. Newt seems to like viewing himself as a senior statesman. Keeping his name in the mix might get him hired as one, if he bows out with enough grace. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/76 "2007-05-14T23:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] If he’s smart enough to know that, why is he even talking about running? [/QUOTE] Well, \*\*Squink \*\*gave one possible explanation, but ego and power lust have blinded many a smart man to embark on a presidential bid that had little chance of success. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/77 "2007-05-14T23:44:21Z")
Universe, I know I haven’t been a very good pantheist, but this is special, I need this one, haven’t had a really good laugh since…well, quite a while. I deserve this one for all the sins of which I am entirely capable but haven’t gotten around to yet, and am therefore innocent. I promise not to snicker if someone says “wiccan” with a straight face. I will continue my boycott of blood diamonds, cocaine, and Prada. I beseech, I implore: Newt! Newt! Newt! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/78 "2007-05-14T23:54:18Z")
I think it was on a recent episode of \*Entourage \*that someone mentioned “bloodless diamonds”. Kinda like dolphin-safe tuna, I guess. I presumed it was a joke, but maybe not… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/79 "2007-05-15T17:59:34Z")
You know, it worries me that the Republicans might hurt themselves by supporting a candidate such as Gingrich…ah, fuck it. I can’t do concern-trolling with a straight face. _Run, Newt, run!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475/80 "2007-05-15T18:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No, just the campaign. Whatever you might think of Gingrich, he’s a very smart guy. He’s just burned too many bridges and is way to polarizing a figure to make it in the presidential race. [/QUOTE] People said similar things about Hillary, which in its own way might be encouraging to Gingrich. He apparently told Good Morning America today, or recently, that a run is “a great possibility.” He’s like any other politician, or maybe just any other person [or a reasonable facsimile]: if he sees any opportunity, he’ll take it. And I think at this point he has to be seeing an opportunity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-newt-gingrich-run-for-potus/394475.md?page=5)