NEWT IS IN – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be running for the GOP nomination for president.  Does he have any chance?  Ace political reporter Dan Balz examines the Newt thing for the Washington Post:

There are many questions he will confront. Gingrich is an idea-spewing machine, unlike anyone else in the Republican Party. But does America want a one-man think tank, particularly one with his history, as its president?

Is he yesterday’s man at a time when Republicans may want a fresh face? A number of GOP strategists think his time has passed, though he obviously does not and looks to history for inspiration.

Is he professionally disciplined enough to be a successful presidential candidate? His record in public life suggests otherwise. He vows this will be different.

Will his personal life — multiple marriages and an admission of adultery — prove disqualifying to social conservatives? Many think it will. His hope is that Americans like stories of confession and redemption.

Gingrich says that he has learned from his mistakes, that he begins this campaign in a different frame of mind. He claims he will listen to those around him, including some of his newest advisers. He says he will take seriously the advice he receives from others. If that turns out to be true, it will mark a distinct change in his modus operandi.

His announcement stressed his work with President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and his accomplishments when he was speaker during the 1990s (though with no mention of the work he did in cooperation with President Bill Clinton).

COMMENT:  I think this is a rather "iffy" proposition.  I love listening to Newt.  He is, as Dan Balz wrote, an idea factory.  But the opposition research on him is easy, and he was forced from the speakership on ethics charges.  Yes, it's true, other politicians have come back from the dead.  Winston Churchill was the political corpse who went on to lead England through World War II.  Nixon was the subject of endless political obituaries in the early 60s, but won the presidency in 1968. 

But this is the glaring media age, and things move very quickly.  I think it's a long shot for Newt, but he'll add some color and intellect to the race.

May 12, 2011