It is my most fervent hope that Gingrich will run.

I'm flexible on my choice for the Democratic nominee, but there's only one I want to see at the top of the Republican ticket.

And I think he has a pretty good shot at it.

Although McCain and Giulani are grovelling at the feet of the extreme right, Newt is their natural-born leader.

Newt has the hawk walk and the God talk down pat. His "George Washington strategy" for Iraq is more than a call for victory. It is a highly coded appeal to the religious right.

I urge all to read Jeff Sharlet's "How the Christian Right Is Reimagining U.S. History" in December's Harper's to understand how Gingrich's new book, Rediscovering God in America, dovetails with the R.J. Rushdoony-inspired movement to promote our nation as historically Christian. Sharlet's article reveals how the "theocentrist" movement has successfully gone mainstream by appropriating historical figures for the cause of a Christian nation. And Newt has joined them in the hope that they will choose him to lead them to victory.

While most other Republicans are trying to straddle the moderate fence, Newt Gingrich has chosen his side. It will make him a standout in the GOP primaries, a polarizing entity in the campaign, and, ultimately, a loser in November 2008.

Gingrich is the one candidate that any of ours can beat. Go, Newt!