Back in 2005 I made a very early endorsement for the Lean U.S. Presidential Candidate for 2008. Now that the date is closer and the field of candidates has expanded, it's time to take another look. The aforementioned endorsement is officially suspended.

Governor Tom Vilsack was a hopeful, based on his Lean work as Governor of the State of Iowa, but alas, he has stepped out of the race early citing the huge fund raising hurdle he faced. This was a loss of a potentially strong Lean voice in the Presidential campaign.

Barack Obama is taking aim at fixing healthcare, a noble cause, and one close to our hearts here at Gemba. A grass roots organizer for the Barack Obama campaign approached us about Lean healthcare recently. Mrs. Obama is a hospital administrator, so this issue may have traction. If we can help put the Lean healthcare plank in Senator Obama's platform, we will.

But the true surprise Lean presidential candidate is... Newt Gingrich. His website newt.org offers a variety of topics he can be invited to speak on, and under Living in the Age of Transformation you can find a reference to the benefits of lean manufacturing, right where it belongs, between "international finance" and "the challenge of military, terrorist and international crime threats".

Drawing from both his academic and public life, Gingrich will discuss his study of: the natural world, the biological revolution's impact on health, the state of information systems, the affect of mass communications, the infrastructure and implementation of international finance, the benefits of lean manufacturing, the challenge of military, terrorist and international crime threats, and, of course, American politics.

Apparently Mr. Gingrich threw down some names like Ohno and Deming on the white board to correct another speaker's attempt to explain LeanSigma to him at a conference in Tempe, Arizona earlier this year. The man reads, I will give him that.

Who is the Lean U.S. Presidential candidate for 2008? Don't know at this point. But if all of you sent e-mails to and posted comments on your favorite candidates' blogs demanding more Lean in their campaign speeches, interesting things might happen...