Sarah Lenti
Dropping a brief blog to you all out in New Mexico today to give you my latest 2012 predictions. Actually, I would state these as facts rather than predictions: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the legendary former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich are running for president. Period.
On Pawlenty, consider the following:
- He decided not to run for re-election as governor of Minnesota because? Exactly, because he is running for president.
- And his team created the Freedom First Pac because? Exactly, because he is running for president.
- And, Pawlenty just released a book, Courage to Stand, on January 18, 2011 because? You get the drill. The man is running for president, and this is exactly why he is showing up at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Forum tonight in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa, ah, Iowa.
As MSNBC reported this morning:
“In Iowa tonight, five Republicans who either have formed presidential exploratory committees or will probably do so soon – Herman Cain, Buddy Roemer, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, and Newt Gingrich – will speak at a forum organized by the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition. Per NBC’s Rob Rivas, Cain is expected to speak at 8:05 pm ET, Pawlenty goes at 8:17 pm, Roemer’s speech is at 8:29 pm, Santorum’s is 8:41 pm, and Gingrich’s is TBD.”
On Gingrich, I am not sure how a man who had an affair and is now on his third (not second) marriage somehow thinks the social conservative right will overlook this cardinal sin and nominate him.
I don’t get it, but apparently he does, and ergo Newt is running for president. Just the other day, he admitted that he was “testing the waters.” And if you had any further doubt, his website newt.org– which is essentially a Reagan fest – all but screams, “I am running for president.”
And Newt is joining T Paw in Des Moines this evening. Finally, check out the tweet below from earlier today – Newt’s taking an uber-extreme stance on the life issue now in March 2011 because? You’ve got it, he’s running hard for the GOP nomination in 2012.
“newtgingrich: Will be proposing several Exec Orders for the POTUS to consider. 1st, reauthorize Reagan’s ban on federal $ paying for abortions. #life” (from twitter.com/NEWTGINGRICH)
As a reminder, these recent blogs are posts about who I believe is running for president in 2012 and who is not. They’re based on what I’ve read and/or what has been geniusly imparted to me. Like you, I reserve the right to change my mind and correct my predictions. That said, the goal is to nail it the first time. (Hey, I was right about Thune…)
Sarah Lenti is the blogger behind NMPolitics.net’s The Savvy. E-mail her at sarah@nmpolitics.net. For full disclosure, Lenti is a Republican strategist who works closely with potential GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s PAC.