Gingrich says Fred Thompson presidential bid could keep him out of race

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Saturday, 07/21/07

Gingrich says Fred Thompson presidential bid could keep him out of race
Former top aide to Gingrich to become Thompson adviser

ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that a White House bid by fellow Southerner Fred Thompson would make him less likely to join the race.

"If Fred Thompson runs and he does well, then I think that makes it easier for me to not run," Gingrich said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "On the other hand, just given what you've seen with (John) McCain the last few months, how can you predict?"

Gingrich, a Republican who in recent months has been actively promoting his ideas for reforming government, reiterated that he would wait until early October to make a decision.

He has at times offered conflicting hints about his plans.

In May, he said "it is a great possibility" that he would pursue the presidency. But a month later he said the probability was "4-to-1 odds" against.

"I've always said it was unlikely I would run," the former Georgia congressman said Friday.

Gingrich is scheduled to give a daylong briefing at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Monday where he plans to contrast the private sector, which he calls "the world that works," with the government, which he calls "the world that fails."

The speech is part of a broader public relations campaign planned for the coming months.

"The system is simply broken," he said, citing failing public schools, the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina and its inability to control immigration. "I don't think you can fix these systems ... I would outsource large parts of them."

In a related development, Rich Galen, a former top aide to Gingrich, will become a top adviser to Thompson, the former Republican Tennessee senator who is likely to officially enter the presidential race in September.