Gingrich Flirts Again With Presidential Bid

Newt Gingrich is adding his name to the mix for the 2000 presidential race.

“If you put together a list of 20, I am on the list,” the House speaker told his hometown paper in an interview published Friday. Does he want to be president? he was asked. “Sure, of course.”

Almost as quickly as Gingrich put himself on a list of potential contenders, his spokeswoman tried to scratch him off, at least for now.

“The concept of a presidential bid is nothing but a hypothetical wrapped in a prospect, wrapped in a possibility,” said Christina Martin.

“The speaker has stated repeatedly and with absolute resolve that he plans to be speaker until the year 2003.”

Still, it seems clear that Gingrich is weighing a presidential bid, an idea he also flirted with during the 1996 campaign.