Newt Gingrich 2.0

All signs point to Newt Gingrich becoming the first Republican this week to take a first step toward the 2012 presidential election. According to CNN, the former Speaker of the House will announce the formation of an “exploratory committee” on Thursday that will permit him to raise funds and recruit a team for an eventual campaign on the Republican ticket.

At 67, Gingrich cannot be called a political neophyte, charismatic or rallying. Nevertheless, he still has some support among Republicans, several of whom admire him for his intellect and his pugnacity.

Moreover, he has courted Tea Party militants in the last few months by making several attacks against Barack Obama and the federal government.

In addition, he is trying to remake his image with key constituents of the Republican primaries — the evangelical Christians. Two years ago he converted to Catholicism, and these days he is presenting to various groups a documentary he made with his wife on the role of Pope Jean Paul II in the fall of communism in Poland.

I reference one of his recent speeches in front of an anti-abortion group in Ohio:

“To a surprising degree, we are in a situation similar to Poland’s in 1979. In America, religious belief is being challenged by a cultural elite trying to create a secularized America, in which God is driven out of public life.”

Gingrich will have to evidently convince Republicans that he is no longer the hypocritical leader of the 1990s who dumped his cancer-stricken wife while calling out Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He has already responded to all questions on the subject. I reference one of his responses to students:

“I’ve had a life which, on occasion, has had problems. I believe in a forgiving God, and the American people will have to decide whether that’s their primary concern. 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 with your candidate or any other candidate if I decide to run.”