Gingrich Not a Candidate But Rakes in Cash

Gingrich Not a Candidate But Rakes in Cash By: Kenneth P. Vogel March 21, 2007 09:08 PM EST

Though high in polls of Republican presidential hopefuls, Newt Gingrich isn't officially running and has declared the early start by many candidates "stupid." But that hasn't stopped the former House speaker from quietly raising a healthy chunk of change. This week, his committee reported having raised $1.1 million last month, bringing its total since it was created in October to more than $2.1 million. That's peanuts compared with the tallies top-tier presidential candidates are expected to report next month. But Gingrich's group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, is a so-called 527 organization, and as such, it would be illegal for Gingrich to use the money to campaign for president. Still, the group can pay for salaries, Gingrich's travel, office space, fundraising, direct mail, television and radio ads and the like. In other words, it can fund the foundation for a campaign before there is one. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney used such a tactic, paying for campaign overhead with much of the $7.1 million he raised largely from big donors to state-based committees, before officially declaring his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination. That's not what Gingrich is doing, said his spokesman, Rick Tyler. "Newt's not running a presidential campaign. He's not a candidate," said Tyler, who is not paid by American Solutions. "I can't speak for Romney, but I can tell you that Newt Gingrich is running an organization that's called American Solutions. It's bipartisan. We'll offer all the findings and our research to both Democrats and Republicans -- and reporters." The group's mission is ambitious -- and somewhat amorphous. Its Web site says it intends to build a network of at least 511,000 elected officials from all levels of government, along with activists and volunteers, "to create a wave of change that meets America's challenges, seizes our opportunities and builds a better future for all Americans." Those solutions, Tyler said, will be made available via videos, white papers, workbooks and forums, starting with a workshop Sept. 27 -- the 13th anniversary of the unveiling of the Contract With America, the plan Gingrich authored, which many credit with helping Republicans win control of Congress in 1994. The group had held on to most of its cash through February, spending only $206,000 on its executive director's salary, consulting, rent, legal fees and Web, video and radio services. It has received nearly all of its cash from just two donors, Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chairman and CEO Sheldon G. Adelson, ranked No. 3 on Forbes' list of richest Americans, and North Carolina real estate developer Fred Godley. Adelson, who Tyler said is an old friend of Gingrich has given to Republican candidates and committees for federal office before, but a search of Federal Election Commission records showed no contributions by Godley, whom Tyler said Gingrich had spoken to only once -- after the contribution. Asked whether American Solutions' contributors give to show support for a potential Gingrich presidential bid, Tyler said "I can't speak for the people who give. You can ask why they give." Neither Adelson nor Godley could be reached for comment Wednesday. They each gave $1 million to Gingrich's 527, to go along with 21 other contributions ranging in size from a pair of $35,000 donations to several of less than $200. Unlike contributions to official candidates for president or Congress, which are capped at $4,600, there are no limits on the amount or source of contributions to 527s like American Solutions. Still, the group's fundraising should be considered a measure of Gingrich's viability as a potential presidential candidate, said University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato. "This is a proto-campaign committee, no matter what its legal classification," he said. The reports show Gingrich's "fundraising base is narrow, and the overall amount is not especially impressive,'' Sabato said. "On the other hand, Gingrich has near 100 percent name recognition and doesn't have to buy it," he said, adding, however, that much of it is negative. A frequent television commentator, Gingrich travels the country giving speeches -- including in the early battleground states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- and cranks out books, a daily radio address and an online newsletter. He's still beloved by Republicans for helping engineer the party's 1994 takeover of Congress. He has come in third in several recent polls of GOP presidential candidates, as well as in the straw poll at this month's Conservative Political Action Conference. Conservative activists, for various reasons and to different degrees, are suspicious of their party's front-running candidates who are waging aggressive campaigns -- Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain. And the Republican candidates more popular among the party's base -- including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback -- are considered less viable. But a possible Gingrich candidacy could be bogged down by a recently admitted affair, two divorces and his roles in President Clinton's impeachment and a budget showdown that shut down the federal government. In fact, in a poll released last month by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of Republican respondents said there was "no chance" they'd vote for Gingrich. And at the conservative conference, he told the crowd "I'm not going to think about the presidential campaign until the 30th of September." If he does enter the race then, he won't be able to touch any unspent cash left in the coffers of American Solutions for Winning the Future.

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