Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hints at 2012 presidential run

Now that would be real change. Newt Gingrich may be gearing up for a 2012 run for the presidency.

The former House Speaker and conservative icon dropped hints about his political aspirations this week.

"Callista [Bisek] and I will look seriously, and we'll probably get our family totally engaged, including our two grandchildren, probably in January 2011, and we'll look seriously at whether or not we think its necessary to do it," Gingrich told the Richmond Times-Dispatch Thursday.

"And if we think it's necessary we'll probably do it," he said.

In an issue that ran last weekend, Gingrich told The New York Times magazine, that he is "a contributor to my country and to my times. If it turns out that there’s a moment when it makes sense to run, then I'll run."

On his Web site, newt.org, Gingrich sounds like a candidate, with the slogan, "Real Change Requires Real Change." But the 65-year-old remains a deaply polarizing figure after he led a Republican Congress into multiple showdowns with the Clinton Administration during his tenure as House Speaker the mid '90s.

Gingrich, however, did tell the Times-Dispatch that there are rising stars in the GOP that would be qualified to take up the mantle, including Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor.