LoungeMachine
09-28-2007, 06:21 PM
Gingrich: $30 Million by Oct. 21 for Bid
By SHANNON McCAFFREY – 2 hours ago
ATLANTA (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has given himself a deadline of Oct. 21 to raise $30 million for a possible presidential bid, saying the task is difficult but not impossible.
"It is steep. This is like climbing Mount Everest," Gingrich said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"It's improbable, but either there's a citizen desire for a citizen candidate, or there isn't," he said Thursday.
Gingrich said he will give his Atlanta-based political adviser, Randy Evans, until Oct. 21 to raise pledges of $30 million. He says he will not run if he fails to generate enough support.
Evans will launch a Web site and hold a news conference Monday in Atlanta.
Gingrich is holding a series of Internet-based policy workshops over the weekend, boosting his profile as he launches the massive fundraising effort.
He told the AP that Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton evokes fear among conservatives.
"There seems to be a very great concern about who could debate Senator Clinton in September and October of next year," he said. "So it seems legitimate to me to reach out and see how deep and how real that support is."
The fiery Gingrich, a polarizing figure whose feud with Democrats over the budget led to a federal government shutdown in 1995 and 1996, is preaching bipartisanship these days.
"We really believe that the American people are tired of red versus blue. The American people are ready for red, white and blue," Gingrich said Thursday in a speech at the Cobb Galleria convention center.
Thursday was the 13th anniversary of the Contract With America, a GOP manifesto that Gingrich came to symbolize when Republicans took control of Congress, and he became speaker, in 1995.
Gingrich adopted a populist tone in his speech, referring to the government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
"I think, as a general rule, levees should not break; bridges should not fall," he said.
He hit other conservative themes, too, calling for tougher border security and the adoption of English as the official language of the government.
Hosted by Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By SHANNON McCAFFREY – 2 hours ago
ATLANTA (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has given himself a deadline of Oct. 21 to raise $30 million for a possible presidential bid, saying the task is difficult but not impossible.
"It is steep. This is like climbing Mount Everest," Gingrich said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"It's improbable, but either there's a citizen desire for a citizen candidate, or there isn't," he said Thursday.
Gingrich said he will give his Atlanta-based political adviser, Randy Evans, until Oct. 21 to raise pledges of $30 million. He says he will not run if he fails to generate enough support.
Evans will launch a Web site and hold a news conference Monday in Atlanta.
Gingrich is holding a series of Internet-based policy workshops over the weekend, boosting his profile as he launches the massive fundraising effort.
He told the AP that Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton evokes fear among conservatives.
"There seems to be a very great concern about who could debate Senator Clinton in September and October of next year," he said. "So it seems legitimate to me to reach out and see how deep and how real that support is."
The fiery Gingrich, a polarizing figure whose feud with Democrats over the budget led to a federal government shutdown in 1995 and 1996, is preaching bipartisanship these days.
"We really believe that the American people are tired of red versus blue. The American people are ready for red, white and blue," Gingrich said Thursday in a speech at the Cobb Galleria convention center.
Thursday was the 13th anniversary of the Contract With America, a GOP manifesto that Gingrich came to symbolize when Republicans took control of Congress, and he became speaker, in 1995.
Gingrich adopted a populist tone in his speech, referring to the government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
"I think, as a general rule, levees should not break; bridges should not fall," he said.
He hit other conservative themes, too, calling for tougher border security and the adoption of English as the official language of the government.
Hosted by Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.