Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich further fueled speculation that he is mulling a presidential campaign in 2012 Monday with the announcement that he will speak at a prominent Southern Republican conference this year.
The Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which bills itself as the "most prominent Republican event outside of a Republican National Convention," announced that Gingrich would address its 2010 convention in New Orleans.
Gingrich will join former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, who is also considered a potential GOP candidate in 2012, in speaking at the event.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has also reportedly secured a speaking venue at the event, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will reportedly bypass the conference.
Not only do these events bring together party operatives and donors that can be key to a presidential campaign, the convention, and other like it, frequently hold straw polls of attendees, one of the earliest ways to gauge the promise of potential contenders.
"Newt Gingrich's leadership and vision have been a critical part of Republican victories over the past 20 years and we're excited to have him at the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference," SRLC Director Charlie Davis said in a statement. "Newt continues to have a profound effect on the direction of our nation."
However, there are other signs that Gingrich may seek to influence the 2012 presidential election without actually entering the race himself.
Gingrich recently formed a political action committee, American Solutions PAC, under IRS rules for organizations known as 527 groups.
Such groups face fewer restrictions on the amounts and sources of donations, including being able to accept funds from corporations, but cannot directly contribute to candidates or be used to fund presidential campaigns.
Funds raised under the restrictions of traditional political action committees, like those founded by Palin, Pawlenty, Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, are not subject to those restrictions.
Such 527 organizations spent hundreds of millions of dollars during the 2008 presidential campaign, though they are barred by law from coordinating their messages with a campaign.
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