UK: Gingrich declares candidacy

The Guardian

Newt Gingrich confirms he will take on Barack Obama in White House race

Former House speaker joins a thin field of Republican candidates while Obama's poll surge sets up first $1bn campaign

By Ewen MacAskill

A surge in support for Barack Obama after the killing of Osama bin Laden has failed to scare off former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who on Wednesday added his name to a small, lacklustre band of Republicans seeking to take on the president in next year's White House race.

A poll shows Obama with the highest approval ratings in two years, up to 60%. More than half say he deserves to be re-elected.

Gingrich tweeted on Monday that he would formally announce his intention to seek the presidency. He is well-known as a generator of ideas and the architect of the Republican victory in 1994, which saw the party take Congress for the first time in 40 years. But he has been out of politics for a decade and, at 67, will be regarded by some voters as too old.

Gingrich joins a thin field of Republican candidates that includes the former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and a former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza, Herman Cain, a rare appearance by an African-American in a Republican race.

Professor Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, agreed that Obama's strong poll figures, which suggest he will win re-election, may dissuade senior Republicans from standing. "Republican decision-making is being driven by Obama poll numbers ... One of the things we will never know is how many people who had been thinking about it have had second thoughts after the killing of Bin Laden," Baker said. "Do you want to make the sacrifice of devoting your life to getting the nomination which may be no more than a ticket to political oblivion?"

Obama is heavily engaged in fundraising, including an event in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday in which he based his appeal on the death of Bin Laden. His campaign team predicts he will be the first candidate to fight with $1bn in funds behind him.

Figures such as Sarah Palin have not said whether they will run, but the Daily Caller website reports that Michele Bachmann, a Palin-lite congresswoman, is expected to announce on 26 May in Iowa that she is to stand. Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and an evangelical Christian, ran a strong campaign in 2008 but has not indicated he plans to run.

Others who earlier this year signalled they were considering a run, such as Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi, have declared they are no longer standing.

Strong potential candidates such as General David Petraeus, who is to become head of the CIA, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, are not standing and may see 2016 as a better bet.

In a mishandled press event, Gingrich half-announced his candidacy earlier this year but had to back off until now. He plans a series of campaign events, including spending most of next week in Iowa, and has been recruiting senior campaign staff.

Baker is sceptical about Gingrich's chances. "I think you have to look at Newt Gingrich as a nostalgic figure for Republicans. He hankers back to the golden age of 94 when Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. The question is what has he done lately, and you have this tumultuous private life he has to live down," he said.

The former speaker could have problems with social conservatives who have not forgiven him for leaving his first wife, who had cancer, and ditching his second wife for a political aide, who became his third wife.

Romney, too, has problems and will on Thursday deliver a speech attempting to neutralise one of his biggest negatives among Republicans, his introduction while governor of Massachusetts of a healthcare programme similar to Obama's.

The AP poll gives Obama more of a bounce from the Bin Laden killing than other polls over the past week. Analysts predict the rise could prove to be short-lived, and his re-election chances are dependent primarily on whether the US climbs out of recession.

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