September 29, 2007
Posted: 02:35 PM ET
(CNN) — Two days after hinting he would make a run for the White House, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich decided Saturday he would not run for president, his spokesman told CNN. Rick Tyler said Gingrich realized he couldn't run a political action committee — his American Solutions group — and form an exploratory committee to run for president at the same time. "He will continue to bring the American people solutions to the challenges America faces through American Solutions, not as a candidate for president," Tyler said in a phone interview. Thursday, Gingrich told supporters in Marietta, Ga., that if they pledge at least $30 million to his campaign over a three-week period starting Monday and ending Oct. 21, he will compete for the nomination. Tyler said the assessment of whether or not Gingrich supporters could raise the money never began. Gingrich chose Thursday, the 13th anniversary of the signing of his "Contract With America," to launch his "Solutions Day" campaign, which he said is a search for bi-partisan answers to the country's major challenges.
While never mentioning the 2008 race in his speech Thursday night, Gingrich outlined what sounded like a campaign message when he called for "real change, not the same old stuff." He said "very bold" proposals are needed to bring the United States government into the 21st century. "I think, as a general rule, that levees should not break, that bridges should not fall, that students should actually learn," Gingrich said. The Solutions Day events also serve as a vehicle for Gingrich to build support for a presidential candidacy, which he said he would be "perfectly happy" not to launch. "I'm not going to be on the phone and I'm not begging," Gingrich told conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, who attended the event. Instead, Gingrich's lawyer, J. Randolph Evans, was supposed to chair an Internet-based fund-raising effort that was scheduled to go live Monday. Gingrich, 64, had hinted for months that he would join the GOP presidential race if he determined there was no other candidate who appeared able to take on the Democrats in 2008. His hinting became louder in recent weeks, with Gingrich suggesting that Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is destined to be the Democratic nominee and that he would be the best Republican to debate her. The former college history professor said Thursday that if he decided to run for president, he would make the formal announcement in Cobb County on Nov. 13, 32 years to the day after Ronald Reagan launched his first run for the White House. Gingrich, first elected to Congress in 1978, became the first Republican speaker of the House since 1954 when he led his party to victory in the 1994 congressional elections. He resigned suddenly from Congress four years after his party lost five House seats in the 1998 elections. In the nine years since, Gingrich has not sought public office, but he has remained vocal as an author and speaker-for-hire. Filed under: Newt Gingrich • Race to '08
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