LAS VEGAS -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich brought his road show here Thursday night to boost Republican Sharron Angle in her competitive race against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and in the process attempted to further endear himself to the tea party faithful as he considers a presidential bid in 2012. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has long been considered the favorite national politician by the tea party movement, but Gingrich heaped praise on tea party activists and like-minded GOP candidates, revealing the beginnings of a possible attempt to woo involved activists for his own national campaign.
Asked by a reporter after a rally for Angle if he thought the presence of tea party candidates could damage the GOP's chances of taking back control of Congress, Gingrich scoffed.
"They're going to have five or six or seven tea party members in the Senate, and you're going to have probably 30 tea party members in the House, so they're already a force," he said. "They are a populist reform movement that represents a real desire to return to the Constitution and a real desire to return to limited government."
Gingrich said that he does not yet know what effect the movement will have on the 2012 elections.
"If President Obama decides to stay on the hard left, and fight as he said he would in hand-to-hand combat - that was his term - I suspect the tea party movement will keep growing," he said.
The former speaker is actively considering a bid for the White House in 2012, but aides say he won't pull the trigger unless there is a very clear pathway to victory, that he has no interest in launching a vanity bid. They suspect that party control of the House next year could have an effect on his decision and ability to set up a contrast. One noted that the bump he could get after boosting candidates through his American Solutions' training program will also play a role.
He opened his remarks at the rally for Angle with: "Before we get to 2012, let's focus on getting to Nov. 2." Gingrich received a full minute-long ovation when he was introduced, and attendees in the crowd shouted at him to run for president.
He acknowledged in a press conference after the rally that the political environment is different than when he pondered a presidential bid in the past. He also reiterated that he'll make his decision about whether to run in February or March.
"Clearly, there is an opportunity to draw a contrast with a radical administration that creates a very real choice for the American people about what kind of country we want to be," he told reporters.
The former speaker has begun to slim down this year, a sign that he is gearing up to run. He will not reveal how much weight he's lost until after he's reached his goal, an aide joked.
Asked if he was on a campaign diet, Gingrich said simply, "I'll let you decide."
He flew to Iowa immediately after the Nevada rally for events in that state. He intends to wrap up his American Solutions tour in Greenville, South Carolina and has a large rally planned the night of the election in Washington, D.C., at the Reagan building.
