Gingrich to Bush: Shut Up on Iraq
by Russell Berman
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 at 12:48 PM
updated Mon, 23 Jul 2007 at 12:49 PM
Newt Gingrich is offering President Bush some interesting advice about winning support for the Iraq war: The president, he says, should stop talking about it. "Simply be quiet, say nothing" is what the former Republican leader is urging. Mr. Bush instead should leave the war talk to General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who have much more credibility with both Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Gingrich said this morning in remarks to a group of reporters and conservative columnists in Washington at an event organized by the American Spectator.
That includes negotiations with Congress about funding, he said.
"Petraeus and Crocker will get a better deal on Iraq than Bush, and it will be much harder for the Democrats to oppose Petraeus and Crocker," Mr. Gingrich said.
He may have a point: While Democrats on Capitol Hill have been unrelenting in their criticism of the president, they voted overwhelmingly to confirm Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker — a fact of which Republicans like Senator McCain are fond of reminding them.
In a wide-ranging hour-long discussion, the ever-candid architect of the "Contract with America" made several observations about the current political climate.
He predicted a Democratic presidential ticket in 2008 of Senators Clinton and Obama, which he said would be "a wonderfully left-wing, deeply compassionate, Oprah Winfrey ticket."
Mr. Gingrich, who has been increasingly critical of the Bush administration, said Republicans don't stand a chance next year if the country doesn't move beyond "the Bush era."
"It's a very simple equation: If we're still in the Bush era next year, we lose," he said. "It's just over, and there's no point in worrying much about it."
He said the Republican message on the economy should be about "creating jobs in America." They should attack every Democratic proposal that's "stupid" as "job-killing."
"We should ask the question: Why would you want to kill jobs?"
As for his own presidential prospects, Mr. Gingrich said essentially the same thing he has been saying off-and-on for months: He isn't thinking about, but he's not ruling it out, and he'll make a decision in the fall based on the state of the Republican field in, say, October. Until then, he is focused on nationwide workshops he is coordinating for the end of September through his political action committee, American Solutions.
He did, however, take somewhat of a swipe at a likely entrant to the race, Fred Thompson. "I'm excited to see whether Fred turns out to be as decisive a front-runner as John McCain, or better," Mr. Gingrich said, referring the Arizona senator whose campaign has crumbled in recent weeks. He has derided the 2008 campaign as a "game show" and said the "Law & Order" star had "decided to leave television for the purpose of entering television."
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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