Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that he hasn't ruled out a 2012 run.

Speaking on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," Gingrich was asked by host Steve Scully, "If you were to run, what factors would you take into account?"

Gingrich responded: "Calista and I are going to think about this in February 2011 and we 're going to reach out to all of our friends around the country and we'll decide if there is a requirement by the citizens that we run. I suspect we probably will. And if there's not a requirement, if other people have filled the vacuum I suspect we won't."

Scully pressed Gingrich further, asking him what specific criteria Gingrich would focus on when making his decision.

"The first one is, is there a message of sufficient importance for the future of my grandchildren's country that somebody should carry that message and there's no one else carrying it. ... In my mind, politics is about ideas. Politics is about finding better solutions. I want to see an alternative Republican Party, not an opposition party. ... We need to offer alternatives to the Democrats, not just oppose them."

Looking out at the field of prospective 2012 candidates, Gingrich said that, amongst Republicans, "I look at a field that could be very interesting and very positive and very exciting and Calista and I would have to decide, 'Is there a role for us? Is there a mission that we have to be on? Because if isn't a mission, we won't do it. I have no great personal ambition needs to run for president, but if there's a mission of helping this country change enough that our grandchildren can live in the most successful, most prosperous, and safest country in the world, than I'd be willing to criss-cross this country advocating that level of change."