Gingrich scares me.
IIRC, he was "censured" by the House when he was SOTH for some misdeed and there was some fine involved. As I recall, his fat-cat cronies held a series of fundraisers for him so that he would not have to pay the fines out of his own pocket.
He seems to have mellowed a bit....his stand on undocumented aliens is much softer than I would have expected. A Republican with a heart for the disadvantaged?
I'm not buying it....the best predictor of future behavior is past behavoir, the U.S. voters best well remember the old Newt, b/c if he gets into a position of relative immunity such as POTUS the old Newt will come roaring back!
Sure wish Bill Gates would run for President on the Republican ticket....he's one I could vote for, given his and his wife's philanthropic efforts.
Donald Trump as an independent? Not sure I could tolerate "The Donald" for 4 years, 4 minutes is tough enough on his "Apprentice" series. He's too bombastic for me.
Sad as it makes me, I think Mitt Romney is the best the Republicans have. If elected, he might be experienced enough to know how to keep the Tea Party Zombies in their cages (until they can be defeated in the next election) so that the legislative branches can work together again.
IMHO Ron Paul could be a dark-horse....he's "radical" enough to appeal to the far-right fringe element of the Republicans, but he's too independent thinking to get their votes. Surely they don't think they can pressure their candidate into doing things their way the way they pressure their SOTH.
It doesn't look like it is going to be a good year to be a Republican running for office.
Cheers!
Doug