Newt Gingrich considering 2012 US presidential run

Washington, Mar 7 (ANI): Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich has revealed that he is considering to run for the 2012 president elections.

"We'll (Gingrich and his wife) probably get our family totally engaged, including our two grandchildren, probably in January 2011, and we'll look seriously at whether or not we think it's necessary to do it," Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted Gingrich, as saying.

Talking to the reporters in Virginia on March 6, he said, "And if we think it's necessary we'll probably do it." "And if it isn't necessary we probably won't do it."

"I think it's conceivable that by 2012 you could have a second Contract for America," the former Speaker added.

According to CBS News, the 'Contract With America', which was crafted by Gingrich and other Republicans in the 1994 Congress election campaign, helped propel the Grand Old Party (GOP) to a majority in both houses of Congress. It outlined a number of promises many related to taxes and spending.

In late 1995, Gingrich was a key player in the shutdown of the federal government.

His opposition with the then-President Bill Clinton on the budget led to a degradation of Gingrich's public image, thanks in part to reports that he had engineered the shutdown in part because he did not like the seat he had been given during a flight on Air Force One.

In his comment last night, he justified his attitude towards working with President Obama and Congressional Democrats: "Cooperate when you can, offer a better solution when possible, stop something only if you have no alternative." (ANI)