Republican Party is just fine, Gingrich insists

By DAVE HELLING The Kansas City Star

More News

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday the Republican Party is just fine, despite a messy fight in New York between moderates and conservatives.

That New York battle led to the election of a Democrat for the first time in more than 100 years.

Gingrich, speaking at the Dole Institute at the University of Kansas, said reporters have exaggerated suggestions that there’s a vacuum of leadership in the party.

“When you don’t have a president, you don’t have a Senate majority leader, you don’t have a speaker, you don’t have a national leader,” he said. “You ought to just relax…Lots of people get to audition.”

Gingrich then rattled off a series of names in his party — and hinted he might join them in seeking the presidential nomination:

“In February 2011 we’re going to contact our friends, and if there’s a sufficiently big desire for me to be a leader, I’ll probably try to be a leader.”

Gingrich has faced sharp criticism from some conservatives for backing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava in a special election in New York. She dropped out before Tuesday’s election, but conservative candidate Doug Hoffman lost anyway to Democrat Bill Owens.

In his speech to a standing-room audience, Gingrich also criticized the White House and Congress, referring to them as a “radical regime.”

“We either become a nation which is endowed by its Creator with certain unalienable rights…or we become a secular socialist European state with a big government and small people,” he said.

Posted on Wed, Nov. 04, 2009 11:10 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

Join the discussion

Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open, civil debate is the goal. Please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as abuse" link.