Newt Gingrich sets sights on 2012 presidential run

Newt Gingrich, the anti-Clinton of the 1990s and master tactician of the Republican Party, knows just when to bark at the dog. As America finds something to celebrate in the news that Bo the Portuguese water dog is on his way to the White House, Gingrich takes a more solemn view. "I hope the girls love the dog," he says. "I hope the family - and all the pressure they are going to be in - finds it useful. And I think that this whole thing is fairly stupid."

Ever the political partisan, Gingrich is as quick to seize on Bo's lefty-liberal provenance as a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. That is a "nice gesture" he says, but "who cares?"

While the nation fiddles to the tune of Knick-knack paddy-whack, give-a-dog-a-bone, the former Congressman from Georgia has more serious matters on his mind.

The problem with Newt Gingrich, however, is that he is both the smartest guy around and a proven disaster zone

This could be the first time that a presidential campaign has been launched on the back of a curly haired, black and white, hypoallergenic puppy. Because it is becoming increasingly clear that Gingrich, after ducking out of the 2008 race on the sure bet that any Republican treading in Dubya Bush's footsteps would lose, is lining himself up for 2012.

Right now a great majority of the nation would throw his own words back at him: "Who cares?" But by 2012, a good few might well care.

The problem with Newt Gingrich, however, from both the Republican and Democrat viewpoint, is that he is both the smartest guy around and a proven disaster zone. Now 66, which is old for presidential candidates these days, Gingrich reached the zenith of his career in 1994-1995 with his catchy "Contract with America". It propelled the Republicans to sweeping mid-term election victories and control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954.