Gingrich Group Raises $8.1M

Newt Gingrich’s political organization brought in a hefty $8.1 million in the first 6 months of the year, Politico reports. American Solutions for Winning the Future advances conservative issues by paying for Gingrich’s air travel, promoting his books, and distributing mail and advertising—but if anybody asks, it’s not a jump-start on a 2012 presidential run.

“American Solutions exists to reflect the interests and views of a tri-partisan majority of American people,” its chief operating officer says. But American Solutions does fund campaign-like activities, and since it’s not a political action committee, it can accept contributions presidential candidates can’t—Mike Huckabee’s PAC, for example, has raised only $300,000 this year. Recent donations to American solutions include $460,000 from oil interests and $150,000 from an anti-union organization.
(More Newt Gingrich stories.)