The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza take on a Gingrich run

In ranking Newt number 3 among Republicans, Cillizza wrote:

One well-connected Iowa operative was recently detailing the massive amounts of time -- and money -- that the former House Speaker had spent in the Hawkeye State over the last two years. That got us to thinking about the possibility that we have been underestimating Gingrich in our 2012 calculations. What he has: name identification, the ability to raise money and more policy proposals than Antoine Dodson has You Tube hits. (And you said we couldn't get an Antoine Dodson reference into the Fix!) What he doesn't: a demonstrated ability to stay on message day after day in the cauldron of a presidential race. Still, if Gingrich runs, and he sounds like he is going to, he is a major force.

Newt tweets that Jim DeMint is right to force reading of 2,000 page spending bill and START treaty

Newt sent these two tweeets out today:

Senator demint is right to demand the reading of the 2000 page earmark filled spending bill. Senate gop should stop the bill

Senator demint is also right in demanding the reading of the new start treaty. This lame duck senate should go home and leave treaty alone

He added in another that the Senate GOP "has more than enough procedural tools to stop harry reids lame duck power grab."

Heritage Foundation: Gingrich Calls for New Conservative Revolution (with video)

The Heritage Foundation sent out this e-mail today:

The keynote speaker at Heritage's annual President’s Club dinner in Washington, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, did not disappoint.

Gingrich outlined his plan for a new conservative revolution, suggesting 2021 as a date by which America will be re-oriented towards conservative principles. And, the former Georgia Congressman added, “there is no better place than The Heritage Foundation to create a new outline of the conservative movement.”

Speaking to the unique nature of power, Gingrich explored the differences between how liberals and conservatives view the source of power. In the conservative view -- the view of the Founders, the view that makes America exceptional -- ”power comes from G-d to each one of you personally. You loan power to the state. The state never loans power to you.”

Gingrich explained a plan to teach American exceptionalism to future generations. He demanded that “every student in a school: elementary, high school, and college, if funded by tax dollars, should encounter the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

Addressing the controversy over TSA screenings, Gingrich said what should be obvious: “We have to tell the truth about who is trying to kill us and act on that truth...Checking out an 83-year-old nun from Des Moines is not national security. It’s stupidity.”

To watch Gingrich's full remarks, go to myHeritage.org.

Newt's e-mail on judge calling individual mandate unconstitutional

Today's ruling by a federal judge that a key provision in ObamaCare is unconstitutional is an enormous victory for all Americans.

Congress should finish the job by repealing this flawed legislation and replacing it with market-based, individually centered health reform that leads to affordable coverage for all Americans.

Full repeal is going to be a very long, difficult fight -- but today's ruling is a huge victory that should not be overlooked.

We wouldn't have reached this point if it weren't for your vigilance, and your willingness to speak out and spread the truth about this destructive legislation.

And the other person who deserves immense credit for today's victory is Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who had the courage to stand up and file this lawsuit against the federal government.

I've just signed my name to a letter thanking Attorney General Cuccinelli for helping make today's victory possible.

I hope you'll join me by signing your name and encouraging your friends to do so as well.

Additionally, we can send a copy of this letter to your state's Attorney General, urging him or her to join Ken Cuccinelli's lawsuit (if they haven't already) and support his request for President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to send this case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cicada

Major Garrett quoting the President of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, in The Enduring Revolution:

Norquist explains, 'There are three major goverment programs -- education, health care, and Social Security. These are the three programs you cannot cut. These three have to be reformed, not cut. We started back in the late 1970s to push 401(k)s, IRAs, and mutual funds as useful alternatives to Social Security. Now we're in the process of debating the privatization of Social Security.'

The 'we' Norquist refers to is the conservative movement, comprising primarily free-market thinkers who have an appetite for ideas that can change political equations. Norquist, like Newt Gingrich, thinks and plans in cicada-like cycles. 'I was always more comfortable with Gingrich than any other politician, because I could say, 'Fifteen years from now I want to be here,' and he was the only politician to say, 'Of course, I see that. I understand.'

Quick Hits

Gentleman from Georgia:

[Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher] encouraged Gingrich to run for president because she thought he was the only politician, in either party, who was capable of running a campaign of hope and opportunity much like the 1980 Reagan campaign.

Matt Lewis from 2007:

The former House speaker from Georgia might be the only Republican presidential candidate, declared or otherwise, who has the potential to be romantic. Other people give speeches; when Newt speaks, the words have music. He's poetic. He's quixotic. He's...dangerous.

He's also incredibly intelligent. He's proposing cutting-edge solutions to vexing policy issues like health care and the tax code. He's offering a compelling vision for a limited but efficiently run federal government.

Something tells me we are heading into a time when conservatives will be willing to jump in the proverbial convertible and head to Vegas on a whim. Hey, Newt's driving.

Opensecrets.org gives the two 527s with the most funds raised so far in 2010:

American Solutions Winning the Future, $24,416,928
Service Employees International Union, $11,612,001