With all the talk of a Bob McDonnell primary, remember this.

Anita Kumar of The Washington Post recently talked about Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, one of the most popular governors in the country, and who -- or if -- he will endorse for President during the primaries.

McDonnell has spoken to former governors Romney of Massachusetts and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota numerous times, including last week. In February, McDonnell dined with Pawlenty in Richmond, raising more than a few eyebrows.

He has also spoken or met with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich several times. Romney, Pawlenty and Gingrich all came to Virginia to help McDonnell during his 2009 gubernatorial campaign.

One thing Kumar did not include in the story was this quote I wrote about two months ago:

New York Times: Other than Reagan, the most significant Republican in the last half-century.

McDonnell: Newt Gingrich. That Contract with America really changed the way Republicans approached government -- positive, problem solving, solutions and then getting things done.

I think that was a phenomenal turnaround.

That's not to say McDonnell will endorse Newt, but I think it would have been a worthwhile inclusion in the article.

Examining Bob McDonnell's claim that Newt is "most important Republican" besides Reagan in last 50 years (hint: he's right).

Virginia Governor and possible 2012 Vice Presidential pick Bob McDonnell had this exchange the other day:

New York Times: Other than Reagan, the most significant Republican in the last half-century.

McDonnell: Newt Gingrich. That Contract with America really changed the way Republicans approached government -- positive, problem solving, solutions and then getting things done.

I think that was a phenomenal turnaround.

Of course, McDonnell is not alone in that view. Lee Edwards -- who worked on Barry Goldwater's campaign, has been a long-time scholar at the Heritage Foundation, and is perhaps the preeminent historian of the conservative movement -- also says that.

The Republicans have had other Presidents in that time span -- Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush -- but none led to as many conservative policy victories as Newt nor did they help bring a political realignment along.

He set out when he was first elected to Congress in 1979 to help bring down the Democrat House majority that had become entrenched and corrupt. Edwards recalls that Newt was all but called insane for arguing Republicans could capture the House. Having done what many thought impossible, Newt followed that up with balancing the budget four years in a row -- while enacting tax cuts and rebuilding our military at the same time -- and reforming welfare.

While being the most influential Republican besides Ronald Reagan in the last half century is not reason alone to be the next GOP Presidential nominee, it is also not to be diminished. Roll Call put it this way:

In noting Gingrich’s accomplishments as a Member, [Gingrich spokesman] Tyler telegraphed what could be a campaign messaging strategy to contrast the former Speaker’s record of concrete achievement at the federal level versus his opponents’ 'rhetoric' of as-yet-unfulfilled promises.

Every Republican running for the White House will talk of balancing the federal budget but only one actually has. And if Newt reminds people of his accomplishments -- almost half of the electorate, either due to being too young in the 90s or other reasons, is not even aware Newt was Speaker -- he will get a chance to balance it again. This time at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Minority outreach

At the The Americano's first forum, Newt Gingrich "nam[ed] incoming New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez as an example of a Republican candidate who is a 'law and order conservative' who 'also understood her ability to go out and campaign in the community and to be sympathetic.'"

While Martinez had an obvious advantage in speaking to the Hispanic community, plenty of other Republicans, such as Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, have done a great job at opening a dialogue with Hispanics and other minority groups. And if the Republican Party is going to be a majority party, they need to speak to those groups more. That doesn't mean offer better handouts than the Democrats; it means understanding what issues they care about and offer better opportunities.

As McDonnell put it himself in an interview with Gingrich months back:

First, I realized just looking at the demographics and long-term projections of increasing diversity in Virginia and America that if we conservatives and Republicans don’t do a better job with outreach to minorities and New Americans we are going to be a permanent minority party....We started a year out building coalitions and identifying key leaders in the Chinese, Filipino, Hispanic communities -- even the Cambodian and Pakistani communities -- and I just started being present. I really felt that the issue of job creation and economic development is one that transcends nationality and ethnic origin. No matter how they voted in the past, if I was there early and often talking about the issues, it would help. Particularly in the Asian community where you have so many small business people and entrepreneurs who are very much in sync with the Republican ideas of limited government and free enterprise.

The other thing we did that was very practical was that we translated bumper stickers into about 12 different languages, into Tagalog, Spanish and Chinese. We had big banners that had our message in those languages. We also got Congressman Cao to come campaign with me and that helped create a bond with the Vietnamese community and we did very well in that community....

I think again it was me not just assuming that they were going to be on the other side....Never assume that just because somebody has a long-term record of supporting the Democrats that there aren’t issues more important than political affiliation. Right now, people who are leaders in the business community are really concerned about overly intrusive federal policies. They’re concerned about the movement of the Democratic Party to more taxes, more regulation, more litigation and more unionization. I think even a conservative, pro-business Republican making a pitch to a long-term Democrat on these free enterprise issues has a shot in this environment.

McDonnell also made the same point about young voters -- whom he did very well with -- that simply showing up on campuses and not ceding any single vote went a long way.