ABC's Jonathan Karl reports that Newt Gingrich is about to run for president and that he has some challenges.
He's also been married three times and acknowledged problems in his personal life, a subject he was forced to address at a recent appearance at the University of Pennsylvania and one that is likely to come up again. If the primary concern of the American people is my past, my candidacy would be irrelevant. If the primary concern of the American people is the future ... that's a debate I'll be happy to have."
At the Washington Post, Gingrich asks no forgiveness for the 1995-96 government shutdown:
While the shutdown produced some short-term pain, it set the stage for a budget deal in 1996 that led to the largest drop in federal discretionary spending since 1969. The discipline imposed by this budget - overall spending grew at an average of 2.9 percent a year while I was speaker of the House, the slowest rate in decades - allowed us to reach a balanced-budget deal in 1997.
At Politico, Andy Barr and Zachary Abrahamson write that Newt Gingrich has relied on a small number of wealthy donors, which he could not do in a presidential campaign.
It’s true that just by looking at the baseline fundraising numbers, the $14.5 million Gingrich’s America Solutions raised in 2010 swamps the competition. But when comparing American Solutions to any of the PACs run by the likes of Mitt Romney or Haley Barbour, it’s clear that Gingrich’s isn’t a hibernating presidential campaign, but is part of a sprawling enterprise that insiders call "Newt, Inc."
That organization includes a federal PAC and tax-exempt 527 (both named “American Solutions”) as well as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, “Renewing American Leadership” – whose donors are not disclosed. Gingrich also runs several niche consulting businesses as well as an online conservative magazine for conservative Hispanics.
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And unlike the fundraising operations of other candidates in waiting, who use their cash to keep an operation intact, Gingrich isn’t spreading the wealth among a group of top-notch consultants ready to spring into action.
Almost every dollar raised by American Solutions is spent on "administrative" costs. Among the vendors is the Gingrich Group, a consulting firm run by Newt himself.
Another Gingrich consultancy, the Center for Health Transformation, reportedly charges several health care and pharmaceutical companies more than $100,000 a year in consulting fees.
Gingrich spent a huge percentage of American Solutions’ cash on plush travel, spending more than $2 million in just the last year on private planes and chauffeur services. That’s been Gingrich’s method of operation with American Solutions for years. In 2009 alone, Gingrich spent $585,000 on chartered flights.
Sean J. Miller reports at The Hill:
Newt Gingrich’s simultaneous courtship of the base of the Republican Party and Latino voters could pose major problems for his likely bid for the White House.
Gingrich, who is soon expected to announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, frequently stresses the need for the GOP to reach out to Latinos. According to the 2010 census, Latinos are now the fastest-growing and largest minority group in the country.Putting that call into practice, the former House Speaker has set up a bilingual news and opinion website directed at Latinos and has staked out a nuanced position on immigration reform that some critics have labeled amnesty.
At the same time, Gingrich has tried to woo conservative activists, coming out against the construction of a mosque near the Ground Zero site in lower Manhattan and calling for the elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The problem, according to some observers, is that Gingrich’s stance on immigration doesn’t lend itself to an easy explanation for a conservative talk-radio audience
