Gingrich praises Obama's speech.

(CNN) – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich praised President Obama's acceptance speech Thursday before the Nobel Committee in Oslo.

"I thought the speech was actually very good," Gingrich told NPR's The Takeaway. "He clearly understood that he had been given the prize prematurely, but he used it as an occasion to remind people, first of all, as he said: that there is evil in the world."

The comments mark the second time in a month that Gingrich has given President Obama's performance a positive nod. Following the president's speech at West Point, Gingrich said the decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan "took considerable courage."

Newt Gingrich is holding his own job summit Wednesday.

Washington (CNN) – Newt Gingrich kicks off a series of town halls on jobs Wednesday, one day before President Obama holds a jobs forum at the White House.

The former House speaker will hold what his American Solutions organization calls a "real jobs summit" in Cincinnati, Ohio. The group says a second event will be held Thursday in Jackson, Mississippi. That's the same day Obama holds his forum in Washington, which the White House says will include representatives from business, organized labor, and academia, among other sectors.

"Our 'real jobs summit' in Cincinnati will be a town hall format and is free and open to the public. We expect over 500 people comprised of small business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders in the Cincinnati area," says American Solutions spokesman Dan Kotman. "Speaker Gingrich will give opening remarks followed by an opportunity for audience members to ask questions, share stories about what has worked for their business, and provide input on our 'Jobs Here, Jobs Now, Jobs First' plan."

Kotman says additional town halls will be announced next year.

The president heads to Allentown, Pennsylvania on Friday, to kick off a listening tour on the economy. The administration says the event in Allentown, known for its industrial struggles.

The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 10.2 percent, the highest level in more than a quarter century.

"Our economy's growing again, for the first time in more than a year, and we know that economic growth is a prerequisite for job growth," Obama said last month, after meeting with his cabinet. "But having said that, what I emphasize today is we cannot sit back and be satisfied, given the extraordinarily high unemployment levels that we've seen."

But Gingrich takes issue with Obama's economic programs.

"President Obama's upcoming 'Jobs Summit' in Washington, DC is an acknowledgment that the big government stimulus package failed to create jobs. For an administration that is actively promoting job-killing health care, energy, and big labor legislation, holding a 'Jobs Summit' is deceiving political theater in the midst of millions of Americans struggling to find work," the possible 2012 GOP presidential hopeful said in a statement last month.

"Beginning in Cincinnati, we will be traveling the country talking to small business owners and entrepreneurs – the engines of growth in our economy – to get their ideas on how to create jobs and grow the economy," added Gingrich.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Dawn Rizos donated $5,000 to open 'Newt's Nook'.

(CNN)– Despite being uninvited to a "private dinner" given by Newt Gingrich, the owner of a Dallas topless club has no hard feelings. She used the money meant for a donation to the former house speaker's political organization to open up a dog shelter in his honor.

Last month, Dawn Rizos, owner of Dallas topless club The Lodge, received a letter from Gingrich's American Solutions inviting her to dine with Gingrich at a Capitol Hill club. She was also told she had been selected to receive an Entrepreneur of the Year Award. "Dawn – Newt is looking forward to finally meeting you face to face" to talk policy, read a handwritten note on the missive.

Lodge spokesman Michael Precker said they were told the group would need $5,000 to confirm her attendance, which they promptly paid. Shortly after, they were notified by a marketing company working for American Solutions that the invite had been mistakenly extended, and was being rescinded.

"Newt's Nook" opened its doors earlier this week, thanks to a $5,000 donation made by Rizos to the Animal Guardians, a dog rescue shelter 40 miles outside of Dallas. The shelter is meant to provide a place for dogs to recuperate until they are adopted.

"We're thrilled to help such a worthy project," said Rizos. "Instead of holding a grudge, we decided to make something positive out of his bad manners."

Rizos also announced a Valentine's Day special. The Lodge will donate an additional $100 to the Animal Guardians for each dog adopted through Valentine's Day 2010, along with a gift certificate to The Lodge or Stratos Global Greek Taverna.

Animal Guardians Director Annette Lambert says she will be forever grateful.

"Dawn [Rizos] didn't deserve to be treated like that, but this will do so much for these loving dogs until we find them good homes," Lambert said.

–CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this post.

Gingrich to hold jobs summit one day before Obama's.

Washington (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will kick off a series of town halls on jobs next month, one day before President Barack Obama holds a jobs forum at the White House.

Gingrich's American Solutions organization announced Monday that Gingrich will hold what it calls a "real jobs summit" in Cincinnati, Ohio, followed by another the next day in Jackson, Mississippi. That's the same day Obama holds his forum in Washington.

The president announced on November 12 that his forum will include representatives from business, organized labor, and academia, among other sectors.

The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 10.2 percent, the highest level in more than a quarter century.

"Our economy's growing again, for the first time in more than a year, and we know that economic growth is a prerequisite for job growth," Obama said Monday, after meeting with his cabinet. "But having said that, what I emphasize today is we cannot sit back and be satisfied, given the extraordinarily high unemployment levels that we've seen."

But Gingrich takes issue with Obama's economic programs.

"President Obama's upcoming 'Jobs Summit' in Washington, DC is an acknowledgment that the big government stimulus package failed to create jobs. For an administration that is actively promoting job-killing health care, energy, and big labor legislation, holding a 'Jobs Summit' is deceiving political theater in the midst of millions of Americans struggling to find work," the possible 2012 GOP presidential hopeful said in a statement.

"Beginning in Cincinnati, we will be traveling the country talking to small business owners and entrepreneurs – the engines of growth in our economy – to get their ideas on how to create jobs and grow the economy," added Gingrich.

American Solutions spokesman Dan Kotman said additional town halls will be announced next year.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Palin's favorable numbers among Iowa Republicans are strong, says a new poll - though one in four members of her party there have doubts.

(CNN) - Sarah Palin's book tour brings her to Iowa in two weeks. If the former Alaska governor and last year's GOP vice presidential nominee decides to return to Iowa down to road to explore a race for the White House, a new survey suggests that Republicans in the state like her - but have some doubts.

According to a Des Moines Register Iowa poll, 68 percent of Hawkeye Republicans view Palin favorably. That's a statistically insignificant 2 points behind those who have a positive view of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, which traditionally kick off the presidential primary season.

Among other potential 2012 candidates: The survey indicates that two out of three view former House Speaker Newt Gingrich favorably and 58 percent have a positive view of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"With those kinds of numbers, if she were to become a candidate, while it's not a sure thing, she would be starting out in a very good position," veteran Iowa GOP strategist David Roederer told the Des Moines Register. Roederer ran McCain's 2008 Iowa campaign.

But according to the poll, nearly one in four Iowa Republicans view Palin unfavorably. That's double the 12 percent who view Huckabee in an unfavorable way.

Among all Iowans, the survey indicates that 55 percent hold an unfavorable opinion, with 37 percent seeing her in a positive light.

Palin's tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," brings her to Iowa on December 6. Palin's scheduled to sign copies of her book at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Des Moines Register Iowa poll was conducted November 8-11, with 800 registered voters in Iowa questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the overall sample.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Newt Gingrich endorsed Hoffman via Twitter Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Gingrich made the announcement via Twitter shortly after the Republican Party nominee Scozzafava announced she was releasing supporters from their commitment to back her.

"Scozzafava dropping out leaves hoffman as only anti-tax anti-pelosi vote in ny 23 Every voter opposed to tax increases support doug hoffman," Gingrich wrote on Twitter. (Tweet shown as it appeared)

Polling showed that Scozzafava was running third in this special election for what had been a traditionally safe Republican seat.

But a split among Republicans over who to support, Scozzafava or the more conservative Hoffman, opened the door for Democratic nominee Bill Owens to capture the seat.

National Republican Party officials, who had also endorsed Scozzafava, are now lining up behind Hoffman.

This new show of GOP unity will make it more difficult for Owens to win the election on Tuesday.

Gingrich spoke to CNN Radio.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has taken considerable heat from conservative activists for endorsing Republican Dede Scozzafava over Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in next month's special congressional election in New York.

But Gingrich is defending his approach to re-building the Republican Party. It begins, he said, by accommodating those who might disagree with you.

"Both parties have to recognize, you can create a center-right majority in America, which we did with Reagan in '80 and we did it again with the 'Contract with America' in '94," Gingrich said in an interview with CNN Radio. "You can't have a purely right-wing majority; you can't have a purely left-wing majority."

The former speaker claimed that Democrats are doing their part to help the GOP by promoting a liberal ideology. "Today, the Democrats are moving toward a secular-socialist model that is guaranteed minority in America," he said.

And he was cautiously optimistic about the 2010 midterm elections.

"Next year, I think we could win [governorships in] Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, the Senate seat in Illinois. In Ohio, we could win both the governorship and the Senate seat," Gingrich said. He also predicted losses for three prominent Democratic incumbents: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Along with the New York special election, Republicans are also watching two key gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Gingrich predicated the GOP will win in Virginia "by a big margin," but was less optimistic about the party's chances in the Garden State.

"I think we have a good chance to win New Jersey, if people conclude that voting for the third-party candidate just re-elects [incumbent Gov. Jon] Corzine," he said.

Listen here:

Gingrich is taking aim at Obama on Twitter.

(CNN) - Former House Speak Newt Gingrich is taking aim on Twitter at President Obama over Chicago's loss in its bid to host the 2016 Olympics:

@newtgingrich Somehow charm and oratory dont seem to work in foreign affirs but historians have warned that foreign policy is different than campaigning

@newtgingrich President Eisenhower had a rule that Presidents of the United States went to the meetings after success had been assured

@newtgingrich President Obama fails to get the Olympics while unemployment goes to 9.8% Iran continues nuclear program. America needs focused leadership

Gingrich group withdraws invite to adult entertainment exec.

(CNN) - For the second time this month, Newt Gingrich's 527 has decided that it made a mistake inviting an adult entertainment industry entrepreneur to attend a "private dinner" with the former House Speaker.

Dawn Rizos, owner of Dallas topless club The Lodge, received a letter earlier this month from Gingrich's American Solutions inviting her to dine with Gingrich at a Capitol Hill club next week. She was also told she had been selected to receive an Entrepreneur of the Year Award. "Dawn - Newt is looking forward to finally meeting you face to face" to talk policy, read a handwritten note on the missive.

Lodge spokesman Michael Precker says they were told the group would need $5,000 to confirm her attendance, which they promptly paid.

On Tuesday, Rizos - who Precker said had laid out the funds for her own travel to the event - was informed by a marketing company working for American Solutions that the invite had been mistakenly extended, and was being rescinded.

Precker said he was told the invitation had been intended for another company with the same name - DCG - as the club's corporate parent. He also says he was told the full $5,000, and the non-refundable travel expenses incurred, would be returned - "so I guess they really don't want us around." No funds have yet been received, he said.

The latest cancellation comes just weeks after porn executive Allison Vivas - who received the same invitation to a dinner with Gingrich, with a nearly identical handwritten note - received her own cancellation notice.

Vivas' invite was rescinded shortly after she released a statement promising to make sure the Georgia Republican left their sitdown "educated about the realities of the online porn market."

An American Solutions spokesman said at the time that the notice to Vivas had been mistakenly sent, and that the group "regret(ted) the error."

The group said Tuesday that the notice Dawn Rizos received "was sent at the same time as the other mistake for the same reason." It did not specify what that reason was.

Follow Rebecca Sinderbrand on Twitter: @sinderbrandrcnn

Gingrich group withdraws invite to adult entertainment exec.

(CNN) - For the second time this month, Newt Gingrich's 527 has decided that it made a mistake inviting an adult entertainment industry entrepreneur to attend a "private dinner" with the former House Speaker.

Dawn Rizos, owner of Dallas topless club The Lodge, received a letter earlier this month from Gingrich's American Solutions inviting her to dine with Gingrich at a Capitol Hill club next week. She was also told she had been selected to receive an Entrepreneur of the Year Award. "Dawn - Newt is looking forward to finally meeting you face to face" to talk policy, read a handwritten note on the missive.

Lodge spokesman Michael Precker says they were told the group would need $5,000 to confirm her attendance, which they promptly paid.

On Tuesday, Rizos - who Precker said had laid out the funds for her own travel to the event - was informed by a marketing company working for American Solutions that the invite had been mistakenly extended, and was being rescinded.

Precker said he was told the invitation had been intended for another company with the same name - DCG - as the club's corporate parent. He also says he was told the full $5,000, and the non-refundable travel expenses incurred, would be returned - "so I guess they really don't want us around." No funds have yet been received, he said.

The latest cancellation comes just weeks after porn executive Allison Vivas - who received the same invitation to a dinner with Gingrich, with a nearly identical handwritten note - received her own cancellation notice.

Vivas' invite was rescinded shortly after she released a statement promising to make sure the Georgia Republican left their sitdown "educated about the realities of the online porn market."

An American Solutions spokesman said at the time that the notice to Vivas had been mistakenly sent, and that the group "regret(ted) the error."

The group said Tuesday that the notice Dawn Rizos received "was sent at the same time as the other mistake for the same reason." It did not specify what that reason was.

Follow Rebecca Sinderbrand on Twitter: @sinderbrandrcnn

A reception with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal raised $250,000 for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Bob McDonnell is having a good day.

The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia will rake in $350,000 on Monday thanks to a pair of fundraisers headlined by GOP stars Newt Gingrich and Bobby Jindal, a campaign aide told CNN.

A Monday morning breakfast reception with the former House Speaker in Falls Church netted McDonnell $100,000 from 125 guests. McDonnell will also take in a healthy $250,000 this evening at a fundraising reception with Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, to be held at the Great Falls home of Washington Redskins co-owner Dwight Schar.

Today's cash haul comes one week after another GOP star, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, helped McDonnell raise $100,000 at a reception on Capitol Hill.

The Democratic National Committee responded to the appearances by calling McDonnell, Gingrich and Jindal "right wing ideologues" who share "extreme positions on women's issues."

Meanwhile, the campaign of Democrat Creigh Deeds is hyping a "major campaign endorsement" from a statewide elected official to be announced Tuesday morning in northern Virginia.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak at the conference on Friday evening.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Conservatives will descend upon the nation's capital Friday for the 2009 "Values Voter Summit," the fourth annual gathering of like-minded political activists who will plot 2010 strategy and hear several potential presidential prospects discuss the GOP's future.

In-between speeches, attendees will also participate in forums with titles ranging from “Thugocracy: Fighting The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy” to “Global Warming Hysteria.”

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the weekend will be "2012 Presidential Straw Poll," the results of which are scheduled to be announced Saturday.

The potential Republican candidates on the ballot are: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Romney won a similar straw poll in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held at the same hotel and featured many of the same speakers. Romney also won the last Values Voter straw poll - in October 2007 - when he narrowly defeated Huckabee in a vote that was open to both attendees and people who signed up to vote on the internet. This year’s survey will only be open to conference-goers.

Just four of the Republicans on the ballot will actually attend the event. Pence, Huckabee and Pawlenty will address the conference on Friday morning, while Romney will deliver remarks on Saturday.

Palin was invited to the event, but according to organizers, the former GOP vice presidential nominee never confirmed she would attend.

Among the other conservative luminaries slated to speak: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Georgia Rep. Tom Price, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Miss California Carrie Prejean.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two of the most outspoken people in politics are putting their ideological differences aside to team up on an initiative to help rebuild the nation's public schools.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rev. Al Sharpton will join Education Secretary Arne Duncan on a tour to encourage cities to fix their schools, the Department of Education announced Friday.

Calling Gingrich and Sharpton "two of the most candid people I have ever known," Duncan said in a statement that that there will be "some provocative conversations on education reform." The trio will visit Philadelphia on Sept. 29, New Orleans on Nov. 3 and Baltimore on November 13. More stops, including one in a rural setting, will be added later, the Education department said.

Gingrich and Sharpton met with President Obama in May to discuss education reform.

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg sent out his first Twitter message in both English and Spanish.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who built a communications empire by fusing technology and journalism, entered the Twittersphere Tuesday when he sent out his first micro-blog message. And he did it with a twist.

Bloomberg, who is seeking a third term in November, sent out a note that was written in English and Spanish.  @MikeBloomberg wrote: "Good morning! Trying this out during my spanish lesson. Como se dice 'first tweet'?"

News quickly spread around that the mayor's first tweet was partly in Spanish, but it is not the first time a language other than English has been used to convey a message by a politician on Twitter. For example, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a Twitter account that only tweets his news in Spanish. And the White House not only tweets in English and Spanish, but has also sent out a message in Farsi.

Twitter does not maintain data on how many Hispanics use the social networking or how many people tweet in Spanish. Yukari Matsuzawa, who heads Twitter's International team, did tell CNN via e-mail, "It is very exciting though that Mayor Bloomberg is tweeting in Spanish! We hope to encourage more international tweets."

House Democrats feature former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a new fundraising push.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Democrats feature former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a new fundraising push that is doubling as a way to distribute talking points on the issue of health care reform.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee blasted out an email Wednesday accusing Republicans of trying to "defeat health insurance reform" with "lies," as well as disrupting town hall meetings that are taking place during the summer congressional recess.

"Now, Sarah Palin is outrageously claiming that Americans 'would have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel" to receive care," DCCC Executive Director Jon Vogel writes in the email that includes a picture of the former Alaska governor. "While Palin's attack is a complete fabrication, the GOP is closing ranks to defend these outright lies. Over the weekend, former Speaker Newt Gingrich stood by Palin's bizarre "death panel" accusation on national TV."

Related: Palin's favorable rating dips in new CNN poll

A hyperlink embedded in the email then takes supporters to the DCCC Web site where people can print out a free copy of the talking points or if they make a donation then a set of "five pre-printed 'Health Care Fact Check' Cards on heavy-duty card stock to keep or share with friends and family" will be sent to their address.

Using the image or name of an opponent is often used by both Democrats and Republicans to encourage people to contribute money as well as excite grassroots activists to become involved in a political campaign or cause.

A political organization chaired by Newt Gingrich announced Friday that it has raised $8 million since the beginning of the year.

(CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's political organization reported Friday it had raised more than $8 million in the first half of the year, a cash haul that significantly dwarfs that which other high-profile Republicans have raised in the same time period.

But Gingrich's organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future, is incorporated as a 527 group, and is not subject to the same contribution limits as political action committees - the type of organizations most politicians spearhead, including fellow potential presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee.

Unlike PACs, 527s can also directly accept funds from corporations but is barred from directly contributing to a candidate or financing a potential White House bid.

Dan Kotman, the spokesman for American Solutions, said Gingrich was only "one part of the fundraising process."

"He played a role as our general chairman, but there were a lot of other factors," Kotman said.

The organization, with a staff of nearly 20, bills itself on its Web site as "a unique tri-partisan organization designed to rise above traditional gridlocked partisanship."

But it also largely operates as a promotional vehicle for Gingrich himself, regularly dispersing e-mails advocating the former House Speaker's positions on issues, advertising his books, and financing his travel across the country to the tune of nearly $700,000 in the first half of the year, according to a report filed with the IRS.

In contrast, the political action committees of Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee, each reported raised $1.6 million, $730,000, and $300,000 respectively.

Palin was in Washington on Monday attending to state business.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker at Monday’s night’s fundraising dinner for the Senate and House Republican campaign committees, but it was Sarah Palin who stole the show.

The Alaska governor’s last-minute appearance at the GOP’s biggest fundraiser of the year ended 24 hours of speculation that the she might skip the event altogether after a series of scheduling disputes. A late attempt to have her speak at the dinner fell through over the weekend when organizers feared she might upstage Gingrich, the onetime House speaker.

Just hours before the event was slated to begin, an aide to Palin would not confirm that she would be attending. But when Palin and her husband Todd sauntered across the stage with Gingrich and his wife Callista shortly before the program commenced, their appearance was met with cheers from the audience of 2,000 party loyalists.

Sen. John McCain, who shared last year’s Republican presidential ticket with Palin, greeted his former running mate as she made her way to her table. Soon after, the former GOP presidential nominee tweeted: “Great to see Sarah and Todd at the dinner tonight — nice reunion!”

Palin did not speak at the event, but during a break in the program for dinner, Republicans clustered around the former vice presidential nominee’s table near the front of the ballroom, eager to meet the governor and pose for pictures.

It was the only table in the vast ballroom that had a crowd gathered around it - and despite their distance from Palin’s table, multiple television cameras kept their lenses trained on the governor for much of the evening.

The guest list included 33 Republican senators and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele. Sen. John Cornyn, who as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee helped organize the dinner, sat with Palin and her husband Todd during the event.

Cornyn briefly acknowledged Palin when he appeared on stage to thank his Republican colleagues for their work on behalf of the party.

“Thank you for being here with us tonight,” Cornyn told her. “Thank you for your leadership, we appreciate it every much.”

Gingrich, the event headliner, also thanked Palin for attending. He said “this country would be amazingly better off” had McCain and Palin been elected.

In a lengthy speech that touched on topics ranging from health care to border security, Gingrich railed against the Obama administration’s “disastrous” approach to federal spending and national security policy. He acknowledged the intra-party squabbles that have roiled the Republican party since last year’s election, but he said such debates are to be expected and will never really disappear from politics.

“I am happy that Dick Cheney is a Republican,” he said. “I am also happy that Colin Powell is a Republican. A majority Republican party will have lots of debates within the party. That is the nature of majorities.”

Gingrich held up former Cheney, the former vice president, as an expert voice on national security, and he called the White House’s administration’s decision to engage Cheney on the national security issues “the first big mistake” of Obama’s presidency. Pointing to last month’s dueling national security speeches from Obama and Cheney, Gingrich said that Cheney laid out facts, while Obama resorted to little more than high-minded oratory.

Gingrich said that like Ronald Reagan, Obama has brilliant rhetorical skills - but unlike Reagan, he said, Obama “uses his rhetorical skills to hide from fundamental facts.”

The dinner brought in a healthy $14.45 million for congressional Republicans, money that will be split evenly between the Senate and House campaign committees as they seek to win back majorities in next year’s midterm elections.

In its most recent financial disclosure, the National Republican Congressional Committee reported $3.69 million in the bank and $5 million in debt. The NRSC, meanwhile, entered the month of May debt-free and reported $2.69 in its campaign war chest.

Actor Jon Voight, an outspoken conservative who stars in the popular television series “24,” emceed the event. In his opening comments, Voight blasted President Obama as “a false prophet” and “a soft-spoken Caesar” who bullies Israel and employed pleasant-sounding language to dupe the country into voting for him last November.

“Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, Alinsky,” he said, listing some of the liberal figures who became flashpoints in the 2008 race. “It didn’t matter one iota. Obama portrayed himself as a moderate, but turned out to be wildly radical.”

Palin was in Washington on Monday attending to state business.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker at Monday’s night’s fundraising dinner for the Senate and House Republican campaign committees, but it was Sarah Palin who stole the show.

The Alaska governor’s last-minute appearance at the GOP’s biggest fundraiser of the year ended 24 hours of speculation that the she might skip the event altogether after a series of scheduling disputes. A late attempt to have her speak at the dinner fell through over the weekend when organizers feared she might upstage Gingrich, the onetime House speaker.

Just hours before the event was slated to begin, an aide to Palin would not confirm that she would be attending. But when Palin and her husband Todd sauntered across the stage with Gingrich and his wife Callista shortly before the program commenced, their appearance was met with cheers from the audience of 2,000 party loyalists.

Sen. John McCain, who shared last year’s Republican presidential ticket with Palin, greeted his former running mate as she made her way to her table. Soon after, the former GOP presidential nominee tweeted: “Great to see Sarah and Todd at the dinner tonight — nice reunion!”

Palin did not speak at the event, but during a break in the program for dinner, Republicans clustered around the former vice presidential nominee’s table near the front of the ballroom, eager to meet the governor and pose for pictures.

It was the only table in the vast ballroom that had a crowd gathered around it - and despite their distance from Palin’s table, multiple television cameras kept their lenses trained on the governor for much of the evening.

The guest list included 33 Republican senators and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele. Sen. John Cornyn, who as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee helped organize the dinner, sat with Palin and her husband Todd during the event.

Cornyn briefly acknowledged Palin when he appeared on stage to thank his Republican colleagues for their work on behalf of the party.

“Thank you for being here with us tonight,” Cornyn told her. “Thank you for your leadership, we appreciate it every much.”

Gingrich, the event headliner, also thanked Palin for attending. He said “this country would be amazingly better off” had McCain and Palin been elected.

In a lengthy speech that touched on topics ranging from health care to border security, Gingrich railed against the Obama administration’s “disastrous” approach to federal spending and national security policy. He acknowledged the intra-party squabbles that have roiled the Republican party since last year’s election, but he said such debates are to be expected and will never really disappear from politics.

“I am happy that Dick Cheney is a Republican,” he said. “I am also happy that Colin Powell is a Republican. A majority Republican party will have lots of debates within the party. That is the nature of majorities.”

Gingrich held up former Cheney, the former vice president, as an expert voice on national security, and he called the White House’s administration’s decision to engage Cheney on the national security issues “the first big mistake” of Obama’s presidency. Pointing to last month’s dueling national security speeches from Obama and Cheney, Gingrich said that Cheney laid out facts, while Obama resorted to little more than high-minded oratory.

Gingrich said that like Ronald Reagan, Obama has brilliant rhetorical skills - but unlike Reagan, he said, Obama “uses his rhetorical skills to hide from fundamental facts.”

The dinner brought in a healthy $14.45 million for congressional Republicans, money that will be split evenly between the Senate and House campaign committees as they seek to win back majorities in next year’s midterm elections.

In its most recent financial disclosure, the National Republican Congressional Committee reported $3.69 million in the bank and $5 million in debt. The NRSC, meanwhile, entered the month of May debt-free and reported $2.69 in its campaign war chest.

Actor Jon Voight, an outspoken conservative who stars in the popular television series “24,” emceed the event. In his opening comments, Voight blasted President Obama as “a false prophet” and “a soft-spoken Caesar” who bullies Israel and employed pleasant-sounding language to dupe the country into voting for him last November.

“Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, Alinsky,” he said, listing some of the liberal figures who became flashpoints in the 2008 race. “It didn’t matter one iota. Obama portrayed himself as a moderate, but turned out to be wildly radical.”

Gingrich tweeted last week that Sotomayor is a 'latina woman racist.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Well, well.

After initially waiting a few nanoseconds to call Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor a racist - not to mention advising that she just ought to withdraw from consideration - Newt Gingrich has had a sudden change of heart. Or at least vocabulary.

In the conservative magazine Human Events, he writes on Wednesday: "My initial reaction was strong and direct - perhaps too strong and too direct.

... Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court have been critical of my word choice. ... The word 'racist' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable."

An apology from Newt? And one that contains a string of thoughts too long to Twitter? How can that be?

It seems as if poor Gingrich found himself the target of his own Republican Party. Some of the more serious folks in the Senate had been trying to figure out what kind of a jurist Sotomayor might be, when Newt and Rush Limbaugh decided to morph into Thelma and Louise.

Their favorite topic? Sotomayor's now infamous statement that, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Foolish, yes. Self-serving, sure.

But Gingrich and Co. just couldn't leave it at that. Personal name-calling is just so much more fun - and attention-getting. So she became a racist (even a reverse racist), in their words.

Not surprisingly, Republican senators trying to figure out a way to mount real questions about her judicial record were appalled. One Senate Republican told me that the GOP caucus grew increasingly furious at Gingrich's grandstanding.

"People are really angry," the senator says. "Newt and Rush have simply made it far more difficult for Republicans to raise the legitimate issues. They're so quick to throw the word racist around, they look ugly, and make us look the same way."

And ugly is not a good place to be when you've just resoundingly lost an election - with less than one-third of the Hispanic vote. If it stays at that level, Republicans will have a hard time winning elections in key red states with growing Hispanic populations.

"Is calling her names our best talking point?" asks GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio. "It's a symptom of being leaderless; it's every man for himself these days." The point, he says, is not to question whether Sotomayor is qualified to sit on the court. After all, after 17 years on the bench, there's no doubt she has the right resume. The right question to ask, Fabrizio rightly argues, is this: How is she going to fill that seat?

And then there's this: Instead of throwing around terms like "judicial activist," why not actually examine her record and look for things that might have some real meaning for the American people?

In these economic times, the old culture wars arguments against judges as a group of evil-doers ready to 'legislate from the bench' holds much less sway. "It's got to be about a question of fairness when people are suffering economic anxiety," says Fabrizio, who looks to the New Haven firefighters case as good fodder for discussion. In that case, the city denied promotions to a largely white group of firefighters after a civil service exam in which none of the black employees who took the test would have been promoted.

"These people studied for a test, passed it and didn't get their promotions," Fabrizio says.

And if the high court overturns Sotomayor's ruling - which some say is likely - the decision would only make the case more incendiary. And that's a fair discussion to have.

But it should also be held in the context of the judge's voluminous record. Tom Goldstein of the respected Scotusblog has done our work for us in examining the firefighters case plus 96 other race-related cases Sotomayor ruled on while on the Court of Appeals.

Goldstein's findings hardly show the mark of a jurist who is looking for discrimination above all else. The judge and the panel rejected the claim of discrimination 78 times and found it to be accurate in 10 cases. Nine of those cases were decided unanimously. Overall, he calculates, "Judge Sotomayor rejected discrimination-related claims by a margin of roughly 8 to 1."

All in all, Goldstein writes, in an 11-year career on the Second Circuit, the judge "has participated in roughly 100 panel decisions involving questions of race and has disagreed with her colleagues in those cases ... a total of four times."

Four times? Is that a legal activist? A reverse racist? A racist? Or even an extremist? Hardly.

Note to Newt: Need new adjectives.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gloria Borger.

Gingrich tweeted last week that Sotomayor is a 'latina woman racist.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A week after sparking a political firestorm with a line on Twitter, Newt Gingrich is looking to cool the controversy in print.

Last week, the former House Speaker alluded to a line in a 2001 speech by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in which President Obama's Supreme Court pick said she hoped that a "wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Gingrich tweeted: "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman.' new racism is no better than old racism" and "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

(Update: Sen. Jeff Sesssions Reaction)

The comments illuminated a strategy divide in GOP ranks over the Supreme Court fight, with high-profile faces like Gingrich and conservative host Rush Limbaugh highlighting what they called Sotomayor's racially divisive remarks, and leaders like National Republican Senatorial Committee John Cornyn urging the party to back away from that line of attack.

On Wednesday, Gingrich penned a lengthy op-ed in conservative Human Events that seemed to back away from his initial reaction.

"Shortly after President Obama nominated her to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, I read Judge Sonia Sotomayor's now famous words: 'I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life,'" he wrote.

"My initial reaction was strong and direct - perhaps too strong and too direct. The sentiment struck me as racist and I said so. Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court have been critical of my word choice.

"With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree. The word 'racist' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted)."

President Obama and White House aides said Sotomayor's choice of words was a poor one, but immediately fought back against critics who branded the judge racist.

"I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they've decided to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said last Wednesday.

UPDATE: Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised Gingrich's decision to revisit his original statements. "I'm very glad he backed off," he told Dana Bash Wednesday, in a CNN exclusive. "I think that's unusual, that commentators do that, and I think it was very good that he did. I think that will... help us. I think that will help us have a real good discussion about the serious issues that the nations faces and the court faces."

Cornyn on Thursday said statements calling Sotomayor a racist are 'terrible.'

(CNN) - A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist."

"I think it's terrible," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR's "All Things Considered" Thursday. "This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”

Both the popular radio host and former GOP House Speaker have suggested Obama's pick for the high court is a racist while referencing a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Related: In her own words: Sotomayor's 'Latina' speech

"Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman.' new racism is no better than old racism," Gingrich wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

"Here you have a racist – you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist," Limbaugh said the day before on his radio program.

Senate Republicans meanwhile have largely withheld judgment on Sotomayor, though many - including Cornyn - have taken issue with some of her past statements and rulings.

"We are all a product of our upbringing and who we are and I think it’s a fact people do have different backgrounds, but I don't think those background ought to determine what the law is," Cornyn said to NPR of Sotomayor's Berkeley comments.

The NRSC chief also brushed off the Limbaugh and Gingrich statements while noting neither man holds an elected office.

"Neither one of these men are elected Republican officials. I just don't think it’s appropriate. I certainly don't endorse it. I think it’s wrong," he said.

Cornyn on Thursday said statements calling Sotomayor a racist are 'terrible.'

(CNN) - A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist."

"I think it's terrible," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR's "All Things Considered" Thursday. "This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”

Both the popular radio host and former GOP House Speaker have suggested Obama's pick for the high court is  a racist while referencing a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Related: In her own words: Sotomayor's 'Latina' speech

"Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman.' new racism is no better than old racism," Gingrich wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

"Here you have a racist – you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist," Limbaugh said the day before on his radio program.

Senate Republicans meanwhile have largely withheld judgment on Sotomayor, though many - including Cornyn - have taken issue with some of her past statements and rulings.

"We are all a product of our upbringing and who we are and I think it’s a fact people do have different backgrounds, but I don't think those background ought to determine what the law is," Cornyn said to NPR of Sotomayor's Berkeley comments.

The NRSC chief also brushed off the Limbaugh and Gingrich statements while noting neither man holds an elected office.

"Neither one of these men are elected Republican officials. I just don't think it’s appropriate. I certainly don't endorse it. I think it’s wrong," he said.

(CNN) – For all her experience and accomplishments, the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor could hinge on one sentence she uttered more than seven years ago.

The sentence constitutes 32 words of the almost 4,000 she delivered during a speech at the University of California, Berkeley. Read by itself, it seems to imply that Latina women make better judges than white men.

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," she said October 26, 2001.

The Princeton and Yale graduate has more than 16 years of federal opinions with which to gauge her proficiency as an arbiter. She spent six years as a district judge and a decade on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the 2001 comment promises to be a focal point of her confirmation.

Conservatives such as talk radio host Rush Limbaugh have called her a "reverse racist." Limbaugh further denounced President Obama as "the greatest living example of a reverse racist."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote in a Twitter post Wednesday, "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

However, the White House and others say the remark is being taken out of context.

"Look at the totality of it. I have confidence that people will come to a reasonable conclusion," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in his Wednesday briefing.

When Obama cited the qualities he was seeking in a nominee, a diverse background was atop the list, Gibbs said.

"When I talk about the richness of experience, I include a life and an upbringing that are different than some people have had," Gibbs said.

Indeed, in a 2007 speech to a Planned Parenthood convention, the president laid out the criteria he would use to select judges: "We need somebody who's got the heart - the empathy - to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old."

Sotomayor's 2001 speech had similar overtones, as she conceded that white justices had made historic decisions on race and gender but emphasized that the attorneys who argued these decisions before the court were African-Americans and women.

At the beginning of her speech, she offered all Latinos in the room a warning: "Latinas are making a lot of progress in the old-boy network."

She went on to laud her Latina upbringing and culture before delivering a brief history on the ascension of women and minorities to the federal bench.

She referenced "two excellent studies on how women on the courts of appeal and state supreme courts have tended to vote more often than their male counterpart to uphold women's claims in sex discrimination cases and criminal defendants' claims in search and seizure cases."

After making the now-inflammatory comment on Latina women versus white men, she discussed how her experiences might color her judicial decisions.

"Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see," she said. "My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

Lani Guinier, a professor at Harvard Law School, defended Sotomayor's remarks, writing in The New York Times on Tuesday that "cognitive psychology and history predict that every justice acts from a perspective."

As a judge, litigator and private lawyer, Sotomayor has myriad experiences that will benefit the court, Guinier wrote, but it would be a mistake to reduce Sotomayor to her résumé.

"[Her] impressive intellect is joined by the wisdom and compassion that comes from varied life experiences," Guinier wrote.

Maria Echaveste, President Clinton's former deputy chief of staff, also defended Sotomayor. Calling Sotomayor a racist, she said, is a disservice to the public.

"What is wisdom but knowledge and experience - and experience that comes from being who you are? That's all she was saying," she said.

Asked whether she would defend a white male nominee who said his experience gave him a better perspective on legal issues, Echaveste dismissed the comparison.

"I can't imagine that any president would pick someone who would say something like that. That's not what Judge Sotomayor was saying," she replied.

Several conservatives, however, believe that is exactly what Sotomayor was saying, and they have mounted an offensive before her confirmation schedule is even solidified.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has called her nomination "troubling" and said her public remarks "make it clear she has an expansive view of the role of the judiciary."

"What the American public deserves is a judge who will put the law above her own personal political philosophy," he said in a statement.

Another 2008 GOP presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also lambasted Sotomayor, saying Obama's campaign promise to remain centrist and bipartisan is "mere rhetoric."

"The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the 'feelings' of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion," Huckabee said in a statement. "If she is confirmed, then we need to take the blindfold off Lady Justice."

Despite widespread criticism over Sotomayor's remark, those defending her say they hope the Senate will judge her by her qualifications and not her 2001 Berkeley speech.

"America is a big, rich, diverse pot, and having a woman of her caliber, her qualifications, on the bench can only enrich," Echaveste said.

Added the White House's Gibbs, "I think [richness of experience] provides somebody with important perspective, and I think many people in America can see some part of them in her story."

– CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin and John King contributed to this report.

Gingrich tweeted that Sotomayor is a 'latina woman racist.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rush Limbaugh isn't the only one calling Sonia Sotomayor a racist. Newt Gingrich is, too - and he's demanding that Obama's pick to the Supreme Court withdraw her nomination.

On Twitter, Gingrich pointed to a line in Sotomayor's 2001 speech to a Hispanic group in Berkeley that has drawn fire from some conservatives.

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," Sotomayor said in that speech, describing how life experience can inform judicial opinions.

On Wednesday, Gingrich tweeted: "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman.' new racism is no better than old racism."

Moments later, he followed up with the message: "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded to Gingrich's criticism at Wednesday's briefing.

"I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they've decided to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation," Gibbs said.

(CNN) – Newt Gingrich is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to resign her leadership post Tuesday, days after deriding the California Democrat as a "trivial politician" over her description of what the CIA has told her about aggressive government interrogation techniques.

In a column for the conservative publication Human Events, the former House Speaker takes aim at Pelosi's press conference last week, during which she said the CIA did not tell her in 2002 that it used the aggressive interrogation technique of waterboarding. She went on to allege the CIA routinely misleads Congress.

"She charged that the CIA, deliberately and as a matter of policy, violated the law by lying to Congress," Gingrich writes in the column. "And with that allegation, Speaker Pelosi disqualified herself from the office she holds."

"Speaker Pelosi has damaged America's safety," Gingrich also writes. "She's made America less secure by sending a signal to the men and women defending our country that they can't count on their leaders to defend them."

In an interview on ABC Wednesday, Gingrich elaborated on his comments, saying CIA agents aren't likely to trust Pelosi with sensitive information going forward given her allegation.

"If you were a CIA agent today and you were told to brief Nancy Pelosi, how could you have any sense of confidence in telling her anything?" Gingrich said.

A Democratic leadership aide Wednesday called Gingrich's comments a "political ploy."

"This is an ethically challenged former Speaker of the House who is out to sell books," the aide said.

Congressional Democrats on Tuesday also appeared to rally behind Pelosi, with her No. 2, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, saying he believes the speaker is being truthful in her statements about 7-year-old briefings.

"Republicans are going to stay on it as long as you guys keep printing it, as long as it continues to be a television item – not about the substance, but about the distraction," Hoyer told reporters Wednesday. "As long as you want to feed on it, the Republicans will continue to feed you."

Meanwhile, one of Pelosi's closest allies in the House, Connecticut Democrat John Larson, acknowledged to CNN that the Speaker's news conference last week could have been better, but insisted there hasn't been any fallout among Democrats.

"Perhaps it wasn't one of her best press conferences. But certainly everyone in this caucus stands behind her to be the lead in our caucus. I don't know if it could have been done better or not, but our caucus is entirely behind her," he said.

– CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this story

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has joined the National Council for a New America.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has signed on to the latest high-profile effort to re-brand the Republican Party - but don't expect to see him take a major leadership role for the National Council for a New America, or make a starring appearance at any of the events on the group's national tour.

Organizers of the effort, spearheaded by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, originally told reporters that Gingrich had not been included in the newly-launched group because his 527, American Solutions, was a partisan entity. (The organization describes itself as a "tri-partisan" network.)

Gingrich supporters dismissed that explanation, pointing out that Mitt Romney - a member of the NCNA's panel of experts - headed the explicitly partisan Free and Strong America PAC, which donates to GOP candidates.

(updated after the jump with Cantor camp response)

Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler downplayed the delay, saying the former speaker was "thrilled and delighted" to join the group.

An individual close to the process blamed Romney's operation for the decision. The GOP aide, who did not wish to be named, told CNN Cantor had officially extended an invitation to Gingrich soon after the group's debut event in northern Virginia last month, but that the former Speaker had not decided to formally accept until Monday.

Earlier this month - the same day Rush Limbaugh told listeners that NCNA leaders despised Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin - Cantor announced that the former Republican vice presidential candidate had accepted an earlier invitation to join the group. Palin joined Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, her former GOP ticket-mate Sen. John McCain, former Floria Gov. Jeb Bush and Romney as a member of the group's senior advisory panel.

Gingrich’s involvement is expected to be more behind-the-scenes.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom derided the report that the former Massachusetts governor's camp had sought to exclude Gingrich. "To qualify as interesting, a rumor should have at least some basis in fact," he said. "This has none. Our view is, the more the merrier."

UPDATE: Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring dismissed the complaints, telling CNN that Gingrich - and RNC chairman Michael Steele, who was not also included in the group's launch due to similar concerns - had not been singled out. “Our legal counsel took extra efforts to ensure that every 'T' was crossed and every 'I' was dotted, to ensure that there were no questions surrounding the involvement of any member of the National Council or its panel of experts,” he said.

He also denied that the Romney team had anything to do with the former speaker's initial exclusion: "There is absolutely no truth to the insinuation that Gov. Romney had anything to do with a delay [in Gingrich's invitation], and Gov. Romney has been very supportive of the growth of the National Council."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that she was misled by the CIA about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Nancy Pelosi continues to face a firestorm over what she may have known about aggressive government interrogation techniques, and when, a new survey has more unpleasant news for the House Speaker.

Nearly half of all Americans - 48 percent - disapprove of how the California Democrat she is handling her job as Speaker of the House in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, while 39 percent approve of her performance.

That rating makes her less popular than other members of her party - congressional Democrats drew a 51 percent approval rating in last month's CNN/ORC survey - and roughly in line with the congressional GOP, which drew positive ratings in April from just 39 percent of those polled.

That puts her approval rating at roughly the levels Newt Gingrich had in his first year as Speaker of the House. (Back in 1995, Gingrich's approval rating was 37 percent; by 1997 - at the same point in his speakership that Pelosi is now - that had dropped to just 25 percent.)

The telephone poll of 1,010 Americans was conducted May 14-17, and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

“Having these voices out there, it doesn’t hurt us, it helps us,” Boehner told CNN’s John King on State of the Union when asked about former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

“If we’re going to show the American people that we’ve got a better way forward, having a chorus of voices out there, I think is helpful to our effort,” added the Ohio Republican.

The GOP congressional leader had no illusions about how much work his party has to do.

“We’ve got a long way to come back. We’ve had two disastrous election cycles.”

And Boehner praised the National Council for a New America, a recent GOP effort spearheaded by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor that is intended to rebrand the GOP and help it reconnect with voters.

“All the wisdom in America isn’t found here in Washington, DC,” Boehner said of the new GOP group. “There’s nothing wrong with going out and listening to the American people, sharing our principles, trying to find ways to address the concerns of the American people. But address those concerns with solutions, solutions that are built on Republican principles. So, I think this dialogue is important.”

Boehner left open the possibility that in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections, the GOP might use something like Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” to brand its message to voters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she was misled about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Newt Gingrich continued his attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Saturday, saying she "defamed everyone" in the intelligence community and he can't "see how she can serve as speaker if it turns out that she has lied about national security both to the House and to the rest of the country.”

"I would expect at that point a motion of censure, and I think under the rules of the House, you can't serve for the rest of that term if you've been censured," Gingrich, a former Republican speaker of the House, said in an interview with CNN.

Pelosi has been under fire from critics who say she was fully briefed on the controversial waterboarding technique - now deemed torture by the Obama administration - in 2002 and 2003. On Thursday, the California Democrat accused CIA officials of misleading her, reiterating a claim that she was briefed on such techniques only once - in September 2002 - and that she was told at the time the techniques were not being used.

Pelosi said the briefing she received from the CIA was incomplete and inaccurate, and she called on the CIA to release a full transcript of the briefing.

The dispute over intelligence prompted CIA Director Leon Panetta to stand up for the agency Friday in a letter to CIA employees and challenge Pelosi on her assertion that the CIA had misled her.

"There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I'm gone. But the political debates about interrogation reached a new decibel level yesterday when the CIA was accused of misleading Congress," Panetta said in a letter to employees.

"Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the agency indicated previously in response to congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing 'the enhanced techniques that had been employed.' Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened."

Pelosi issued a response to Panetta on Friday in which she shifted her criticism from the CIA to the Bush administration.

"My criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe," she wrote. "What is important now is to be united in our commitment to ensuring the security of our country; that, and how Congress exercises its oversight responsibilities, will continue to be my focus as we move forward."

But Gingrich says Panetta's letter puts "strong clear pressure" on the House to open a formal investigation.

"I think the house has an absolute obligation to investigate whether or not the third ranking official, after all she is third in line to be president, whether or not that person can be allowed to lie about national security both to the country and to the House of Representatives, and I think that it's a very very serious charge."

Gingrich said Pelosi is a 'trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes.'

(CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is engaging in a "despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort" to withhold what she knew about the CIA's aggressive interrogation techniques, Newt Gingrich said Friday, in what amounts to the harshest criticism yet leveled at the California Democrat.

In an interview with ABC Radio, the former House Speaker said Pelosi flat-out "lied to the House" when she earlier claimed the CIA had never briefed her about the Bush administration's use of aggressive interrogation techniques including waterboarding.

"I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters," Gingrich said.

Pelosi has been under fire from critics who say that she was fully briefed on the techniques in 2002 and 2003.  On Thursday, the California Democrat accused CIA officials of misleading her, reiterating an earlier claim that she was briefed on such techniques only once - in September 2002 - and that she was told at the time that the techniques were not being used.

Pelosi also said the briefing she received from the CIA was incomplete and inaccurate, and she called on the CIA to release a full transcript of the briefing. She also accused Republicans of jumping on reports of the briefings to cause a distraction.

"She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior," Gingrich also said in the blistering interview.

Earlier: Source: Aide told Pelosi waterboarding had been used

"Speaker Pelosi's the big loser, because she either comes across as incompetent, or dishonest. Those are the only two defenses," he continued. "The fact is, she either didn't do her job, or she did do her job and she's now afraid to tell the truth."

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the current Democratic House Speaker, has a lot of explaining to do about her knowledge of the CIA's use of waterboarding.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has denied she was ever told explicitly that waterboarding had been used on terrorist suspects, "has a lot of explaining to do," former Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday.

Gingrich, who held the House post from 1995 to 1999, said Pelosi keeps changing her statements on how much she knew about the practice and when.

In the interest of national security, "she [Pelosi] has a responsibility to say nothing or tell the truth," he told "Fox News Sunday." "In this case, it's clear she wasn't telling the truth."

A CIA memo provided to CNN by Republican sources lists 40 briefings for members of Congress from September 2002 to March 2009.

The first briefing - on September 4, 2002 - was for then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss and Pelosi, then the ranking Democrat on the committee.

The subject of the briefing is listed as "EITs," or enhanced interrogation techniques, "including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah," a suspected al Qaeda leader imprisoned at U.S. facilities in Guantanamo Bay.

One of those techniques is waterboarding, which simulates drowning and which has been described by critics as torture.

Initially, Pelosi said she had not been briefed on EITs, according to the memo provided to CNN by Republican sources.

However, a recently declassified Justice Department memo from 2005 says, "The CIA used the waterboard 'at least 83 times during August 2002' in the interrogation of Zubaydah."

That was before the September 4 Pelosi-Goss briefing.

Pelosi released a statement in December 2007 that said, "I was briefed on interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future. The administration advised that legal counsel for both the CIA and the Department of Justice had concluded that the techniques were legal."

Last month, Pelosi told reporters she was told about the legal justification for the interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, but was never told the technique had been used on any detainees.

"We were not - I repeat - were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used," she said Friday.

In a statement issued Friday, Pelosi said: "Of the 40 CIA briefings to Congress reported recently in the press, I was only briefed once, on September 4, 2002, as I have previously stated."

Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton visited the White House Thursday to meet with the president about education.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Call it an instance of strange political bedfellows.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rev. Al Sharpton met with President Obama at the White House Thursday to discuss education.

"I think this is an issue that should bring all Americans together," Gingrich said after the meeting. "I think that education should be the first civil right of the 21st century and I think we have to move forward from No Child Left Behind towards helping every American get ahead."

Gingrich, who is credited with the 1994 Republican Revolution, also praised the new Democratic president's policies on education.

"I think this president has shown courage, during the primaries when it was difficult," said Gingrich. "He stood out for charter schools. He has made clear his commitment to lifting the cap on charter schools. He has made clear his belief in accountability. And, I think as Americans, we can reach beyond Democrat and Republican, we can reach beyond liberal and conservative."

For Sharpton, a candidate in the 2004 Democratic presidential primary, education is a civil rights issue.

"[W]e have a crisis of inequality in this country with education," he said. "Fifty-five years after Brown vs. The Board of Education, there is still a difference in how students get up in the morning and go to school. Some are treated differently, some are funded differently, some face different principals, different teachers. There is a difference in the quality of education."

And, like Gingrich, Sharpton said that there was a bipartisan commitment to improve education.

"And we are committed across our political and ideological lines . . . . We may not agree on certain specific issues, but there must be a commitment in this country for equal education for all American young people," Sharpton said.

Gingrich picked winners and losers of President Obama's policies.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - When it comes to some of President Obama's national security policies, terrorist are the winners, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday.

In a posting on his Web site, the former House speaker who has been highly critical of Obama listed various administration initiatives, like closing Guantanamo Bay, picking a new Supreme Court Justice and the Chrysler bankruptcy, and picked the winners and losers of each.

"The Obama Administration has elevated rewarding some Americans and punishing others to a governing philosophy," Gingrich wrote. "And as he has expanded the size and the scope of government, President Obama has only increased his ability to reach into our businesses, our communities, and even our homes to separate Americans into two groups: Those who will benefit from the new order, and those who will pay the bills."

Gingrich called Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay a "truly mind-boggling idea" and said the winners are the terrorists and the losers are "new neighbors of terrorists and the American tax-payers."

Gingrich was also highly critical of Obama's comment that he would choose a Supreme Court Justice with "empathy," saying that the winners are "anyone the president deems deserving of judicial 'empathy'" and the losers would include "everyone else."

"Feeling the people's pain is the job of the people who make the laws," Gingrich said. "The job of judges is to interpret the laws without regard to the race, color, creed or station of the individuals involved. When we start picking judges based on their 'empathy' for certain groups, the rights of favored groups inevitably collide with the rights of others."

Gingrich said Thursday that RNC members think they are 'precious.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Several members of the Republican National Committee are miffed at Newt Gingrich for claiming that they’re a small bunch of egomaniacs who need to be coddled by the party chairman.

“Newt needs to take a breath,” New Jersey committeeman David Norcross told CNN.

Gingrich made the assertion on C-SPAN Thursday when asked about a new resolution put forth by some veteran members - including Norcross and RNC Treasurer Randy Pullen of Arizona - that would limit chairman Michael Steele’s ability to control how the committee spends its money.

That resolution has sparked a fresh round of infighting between Steele loyalists on the committee and entrenched members who backed other candidates for the chairmanship and remain skeptical of his leadership.

Defending Steele’s tumultuous start, Gingrich said the chairman might be under fire from some in the committee because he “probably has not yet learned the art of massaging the egos of RNC members.”

“They all think they’re precious, and they all think they should be taken care of, and they all think the job of the chairman, first of all, is to make the RNC members happy,” Gingrich said of the committee’s 168 members.

Tennessee GOP chairwoman Robin Smith objected to that suggestion, saying that “RNC members, on the whole, are committed individuals who sincerely work for the best of our party.”

“Forming circular firing squads only gives aid to the Democrats who are doing quite nicely in undercutting the public trust in our government,” Smith said.

Ada Fisher, committeewoman from North Carolina, said RNC members are not “as ego driven as some professional politicians and pundits would like to believe.”

“Most of us are not receiving large sums from being on television, serving as commentators, giving speeches or writing books, nor do we devote our waking hours to playing politics,” Fisher said in a thinly veiled jab at Gingrich.

Another committee member called the former Speaker’s remarks a “gross generalization.”

But other RNC members sympathetic to Steele sided with Gingrich and defended the chairman’s three-month tenure at the party helm. Steele backers said the new chairman is engaging with state parties and grassroots activists in ways not seen since the GOP was last out of power during the Clinton administration.

California GOP chairman Ron Nehring boasted that the RNC under Steele “is about partnerships with the states, and that’s good news for everyone.”

“Newt is right that RNC members believe they are ‘precious,’” said California committee member Shawn Steel. “However, Michael is more popular than ever. He communicates much more frequently than the prior chair."

North Carolina Republican party chair Linda Daves, who backed South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson during the race for the RNC chairmanship, knocked the members who are now pushing the resolution to regulate Steele’s financial powers.

“I think some of the members should spend more time trying to build the party on the state level and spend less time trying to micromanage the RNC and trying to tear down Michael Steele,” Daves said.

Norcross argued that the good governance resolution is only being proposed to fill the vacuum left by the retirement of veteran RNC comptroller Jay Banning, who was let go by the committee last month after more than 30 years. He said that oversight of the chairman’s purse strings by the committee is nothing new.

“Newt ought to get his facts right,” Norcross said. “My ego does not need to be taken care of, but my Treasurer does.”

A spokesman for the RNC did not respond to a request for comment about Gingrich’s C-SPAN appearance.

During an interview Thursday, Former House Speaker Gingrich addressed apparent tension between RNC chairman Michael Steele and some members of the GOP's national committee.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich opened up another front Thursday in the Republican Party's battle for self-definition and control - and, in process, expressed sympathy for embattled national party chairman Michael Steele.

Reacting to recent reports that some members of the RNC are trying to limit Steele's ability to spend the committee's money without authorization from other party leaders, Gingrich said RNC members "all think they're precious, and they all think they should be taken care of, and they all think the job of the chairman, first of all, is to make the RNC members happy."

Those expectations were part of the reason Gingrich "would not have dreamed" of running for RNC chairman. And Gingrich speculated that Steele "probably has not yet learned the art of massaging the egos of RNC members."

But Gingrich suggested that Steele could still repair his relationship with some members of the national committee. "I hope Steele continues to evolve and grow and learn," the prominent Republican said. "He's had a challenging opening couple of months."

Gingrich's comments come a day after reports that several prominent Republicans including former GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain have formed of a new group designed to revive the GOP's tarnished brand and to counter the Democratic talking point that Republicans have become "the party of no" since President Obama's swearing-in. In a series of town-hall-style events, the group, The New Council for a New America, plans to use the lens of core Republican principles to engage the public in a discussion about many of the challenges the country is facing. The first event is planned for Saturday in Northern Virginia.

Gingrich said Monday the president's greeting with Chavez will be used as propaganda by enemies.

(CNN) – President Obama's friendly encounter with Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas will be used as propaganda by enemies of the United States, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday.

Gingrich, the second high-profile Republican to criticize the president's now-famous exchange with the Venezuelan leader in as many days, said countries hostile toward America will view the cordial moment as evidence the United States accepts Chavez as an acceptable leader.

"Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and being with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate that he is acceptable," Gingrich said in an interview on NBC's The Today Show.

"What I find distressing is that this administration is opposed to looking for oil offshore, but the president bows to the Saudi king, and the president is friends with Venezuela whose biggest impact on us is that they send us a lot of oil," Gingrich added.

Speaking Sunday to reporters Sunday in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Obama brushed aside criticism of the appearance, saying, "It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States."

But in his interview Monday, Gingrich said there is a "shallowness about how [the Obama administration] analyzes things."

"It does matter to the world if the United States tolerates a vicious anti-American propaganda campaign, and then smiles and greets the person who has systematically been anti-American his entire career," he said.

Gingrich's comments come a day after Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, called the exchange "irresponsible" during an interview on State of The Union with John King. (Video below)

News of the arrival of the new first puppy has already caused a partisan split between Newt Gingrich and CNN Contributor Donna Brazile.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich weighed in Sunday on news that the first family has finally settled on a new puppy for daughters Malia and Sasha.

“I hope that the girls love the dog,” Gingrich said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I hope the family – and all the pressure they’re going to be in – finds it useful. And I think that this whole thing is fairly stupid.”

The six-month-old puppy is a Portuguese water dog that the Obamas have decided to name Bo. The dog is a gift to the first family from Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, a longtime Obama political ally who also owns several dogs of the breed.

“It’s great that they have a dog. It’s great that the kids are adjusting,” Gingrich said. “And where they got it from – who cares? It’s a nice gesture on Senator Kennedy’s part to give it to them but who cares?” Gingrich added.

Perhaps it was a partisan difference, but Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Donna Brazile had kinder words for the new first puppy.

“What’s not to like about this dog?” Brazile said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “He’s cute. He’s adorable. But, I hope he’s potty trained,” she joked

Gingrich says the Obama administration is 'anti religious'.

(CNN) - Newt Gingrich said Tuesday the Obama administration is "intensely secular" and "anti-religious," the former House Speaker's second hard-hitting criticism of the new administration this week.

In an interview with FOX News, Gingrich said he strongly disagreed with Obama's choice of Harry Knox - an outspoken activist for gay rights - to the White House advisory council on faith-based initiatives.

"I think their goal is to have a very secular America in which government dominates everything," he said. "Why wouldn't you put an anti-religious, left-wing zealot on a faith-based group? It's a perfect pattern for this administration."

Since 2005, Knox has served as the director of the Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that advocates on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. He is also a former Methodist pastor.

Obama formally named Knox to the 25-member advisory council on Monday, a move that has not sat well with some Christian conservatives. The conservative Catholic League called him "unfit to serve," especially taking issue with Knox's recent comment characterizing Pope Benedict XVI as a "discredited leader" because of his opposition to gay marriage.

In a statement released earlier this week, Knox said, "The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is eager to help the administration achieve its goals around economic recovery and fighting poverty; fatherhood and healthy families; inter-religious dialogue; care for the environment; and global poverty, health and development."

But Gingrich said the Knox appointment, along with some other moves, proves the administration is trying to "go down in history as a consistently anti-religious, secular group of people who are consciously trying to drive things out."

Two days ago, Gingrich told Politico former Vice President Dick Cheney was "clearly right" when he asserted the Obama administration's national security policies have left the country more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich agrees with Dick Cheney.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Newt Gingrich said Monday that former Vice President Dick Cheney was "clearly right" to suggest that the country faces a greater threat of terrorist attacks with President Obama in the White House.

In an online Q&A session with Politico, Gingrich was asked: "Do you agree with Dick Cheney's assessment that we are less safe under the Obama administraion?"

"Dick Cheney is clearly right in saying that between the Court decisions about terrorists and the administration's [sic] actions the United States is running greater risks of getting attacked than we were under President Bush," Gingrich responded.

In a March 15 interview on CNN's "State of the Union with John King," Cheney said the Bush administration's anti-terror strategies "were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that led us to defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11."

"I think that's a great success story," Cheney said. "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that in my mind that will in fact raise the risk to the American people of another attack."

The former Republican Speaker discussed 2012 during a recent speech at a Missouri college.

(CNN) - Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don’t figure out a way to shape up.

“If the Republicans can’t break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third party movement in 2012,” Gingrich said Tuesday. The speech, to a group of students at the College of the Ozarks in Missouri, was recorded by Springfield TV station KY3.

But Gingrich, bemoaning President Barack Obama’s “monstrosity of a budget,” acknowledged that Republicans are partially to blame for the escalation in federal spending.

"Remember, everything Obama’s doing, Bush started last year,” he said. “If you’re going to talk about big spending, the mistakes of the Bush administration last year are fully as bad as the mistakes of Obama’s first two, three months.”

Gingrich told the students that the current governmental system “is so sick, so out of touch and so arrogant that you’re going to have a nationwide rebellion at the polls of people in both parties who are just fed up.”

“You can do a Facebook page, you can Twitter,” he said. “I Twitter right now and I think we’re at like, I don’t know, 18,000 or 20,000 thousand people that follow my Twitter, which I have to say I think is nuts. But there are ways to communicate, you’re not trapped by CBS news.”

Gingrich has repeatedly said that he will decide in early 2011 whether he plans to seek the White House in 2012.

Gingrich is mulling a White House bid in 2012.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Newt Gingrich is talking out loud about a possible run for the White House in 2012.

“Calista 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 reporters in Ashland, Virginia last night, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“And if we think it's necessary we'll probably do it,” he said. “And if it isn’t necessary we probably won't do it.”

The former House Speaker told the New York Times magazine something similar in a profile published over the weekend.

“I think I’m closer to Benjamin Franklin than to George Washington,” Gingrich told the magazine. “I’m 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. But if I end up never being able to run, then it won’t devastate me.”

Gingrich briefly flirted with the idea of running for president in 2007, telling supporters that if he could raise $30 million in a three-week period he would enter the race, but ultimately decided against entering the race.

Though he’s mulling a run, Gingrich said it may be time to pass the torch to younger crop of leaders. He told the Times-Dispatch that he sees the Republican Party “moving towards a whole new generation” and predicted that Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Minority Whip, is on the path to becoming Speaker of the House.

Newt Gingrich says Palin has the head start in Iowa.

(CNN) - It's impossible to know how the Republican presidential field will stack up three years from now, yet former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says one candidate in particular may have a big head start.

Speaking at an event Monday sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Gingrich said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's continued popularity among the GOP's base would give the former vice presidential candidate an instant boost in Iowa - the state whose caucuses, dominated by rank-and-file conservatives, kick off the primary season.

"Palin starts in Iowa with a substantial base," said Gingrich, who also noted how important the Iowa caucuses have proven to be in presidential campaigns.

He said Palin is "very formidable," and suggested the Alaska governor spend time developing "fairly sophisticated positions" on a range of issues.

Still, Gingrich said it's entirely too early to handicap the 2012 GOP presidential race, since it remains unclear which Republicans will run, and what the state of the economy will be.

"Nobody knows today who is going to fill the vacuum," said Gingrich.

Gingrich, who weighed his own presidential run last cycle, didn't hint at whether he might be interested in mounting his own bid in 2012.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich has some advice to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – While President-elect Barack Obama talks about reforming the federal government by bringing change to Washington, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to the nation’s capital for advice on how to shake up Sacramento.

More specifically, the governor’s senior aides recently turned to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for input on how to enact political reforms and make the government run more efficiently, Schwarzenegger communications director Matt David tells CNN.

David said the discussion between Gingrich and Schwarzenegger chief of staff Susan Kennedy did not focus on the current deadlock over the California state budget, but rather the governor’s goal of creating a more efficient state government that could include “consolidating some agencies and getting rid of overtime and sick time abuse.”

“Since his first day in office, the governor has been looking at ways to reform the political system in Sacramento, to make it more accountable and to also make government more efficient to save taxpayer dollars,” he said.

David, who got to know Gingrich during his work at the conservative group Freedoms Watch, reached out to the former House speaker to ask for suggestions and ideas on the issue of reform.

With the Republican Party searching for a unifying theme, could political reform and smaller government be the GOP rallying cry in 2010? Lacking a natural national leader right now, will Schwarzenegger and/or Gingrich fill that role?

Newt Gingrich told the RNC Tuesday that it should immediately pull down a web video featuring President-elect Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

(CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich isn’t happy with the Republican National Committee.

In a letter addressed Tuesday to Mike Duncan, chairman of the RNC, Gingrich slams the committee for releasing a recent Web video that seeks to connect Obama to embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In a nearly three-minute spot entitled “Questions Remain,” the RNC seeks to raise questions about involvement by Obama or his staff in Blagojevich’s alleged plan to award Obama’s former Senate seat in exchange for political favors.

Gingrich calls the video a “destructive distraction” and asserts that the national committee “is engaged in the sort of negative, attack politics that the voters rejected in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.”

Instead, “Republicans should be working to help the incoming president succeed in meeting” the “real challenges” the nation is facing, Gingrich writes to Duncan. When Republicans believe Obama is wrong, the GOP should “offer a better solution, instead of just opposing him,” Gingrich also wrote.

The letter ends with Gingrich’s suggestion that the RNC “pull the ad down immediately.”

Gingrich’s letter echoes recent comments from Obama’s former rival, Sen. John McCain. In a television interview Sunday, McCain also took issue with the video.

“In all due respect to the Republican National Committee,” McCain said, “right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together . . . on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary.”

The RNC has not responded to CNN’s request for comment

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) – Three top Republicans — including two who reportedly held top spots on John McCain’s V.P. shortlist - expressed confidence Tuesday in the McCain campaign’s vetting of Sarah Palin, and said that her daughter’s pregnancy is a private matter that will have a negligible impact on the presidential race.

Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney each spoke to a handful of reporters in Minneapolis after a pair of convention-related events.

Pawlenty and Romney, both passed over by McCain in favor of Palin, said the matter of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy should be off the table in the campaign.

“The personal life of her juvenile 17-year-old daughter is not fair game, so I’m disappointed that that’s even an issue that would come up,” Pawlenty said after an education forum here, adding that he had read in the papers that she had been vetted “thoroughly.”

Romney, who attended a Republican luncheon on Israel, said he thought Palin was “vetted effectively” and that McCain “was aware of her daughter’s challenges.”

“But you know I sort of take the same approach as Barack Obama does to this,” Romney told CNN. “This matter is private. Ought to be kept out of politics.”

Gingrich, who hosted the education forum at which Pawlenty spoke, said the heightened focus on Palin was only natural, comparing her circumstances to his own rise from relative obscurity to becoming Speaker of the House in 1994.

“There’s a sudden explosion into the stratosphere that’s going to disorienting,” he said. “She’s going to have some mistakes. People need to understand that.”

But nothing uncovered by the news media in recent days, he said, will have much bearing on the opinions of voters.

“I don’t know of anything we have learned right now that has any significant relevance to her being an effective candidate and an effective vice president,” he said.

Watch Gingrich push for a vote on oil drilling.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – He led Republicans into a government shutdown in the 1990s and now former House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicates his party is seriously considering another shutdown threat to force a vote on offshore oil drilling in September.

House Republicans brought Gingrich to the Capitol Wednesday, partly to revive media coverage on their fourth day of protest speeches in the chamber. The rest of Congress is gone for August recess, but Republicans have been speaking on the closed-down House floor, calling for a special session to vote on drilling and energy.

While Gingrich did attract more camera crews, he also pointed to what may be the GOP's next strategy: if Democrats refuse to hold a separate vote on oil drilling, Republicans could try to block the votes needed to keep government running past September 30.

"Are (Democrats) really prepared to close the government in order to stop drilling?", Gingrich asked, "Because I think the country will find that to be a suicidal strategy."

The precise maneuvering of a shutdown threat is complicated, but it revolves around the fact that key government spending bills expire when the fiscal year ends on September 30th and Congress must vote next month to keep the government operating.

One of those spending bills, for the Department of the Interior, contains the hot-button provision banning offshore oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. If that bill expires, as it is set to do on September 30th, then so does the drilling ban. Republicans believe a majority of the House opposes the ban and thus the voting on whether to keep government running could also become voting on whether to allow offshore drilling.

The parliamentary possibilities are numerous. But Republican Leader John Boehner's office think the votes are there, on both sides of the Capitol, to support drilling and energy expansion. Boehner Spokesman Kevin Smith confirms there are many options on the table for September, including a shutdown threat.

""If Democrats want to block what a majority of the House and Senate want, they can proceed with a strategy that would in effect shut down the government, " said Smith.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office responded quickly with a statement from spokesperson Nadeam Elshami. "Democrats will not shutdown the government," Elshami wrote, "but it is not surprising Newt Gingrich would raise that threat since he and the Republican Party shutdown the government in the 1990s."

Indeed, Gingrich's political game of chicken with then-President Bill Clinton led to two government shutdowns in late 1995 and early 1996. The move backfired and polls showed more Americans blamed Gingrich. But he defends his decisions at the time.

"We shut the federal government down, for a brief period, in order to get a balanced budget," he told CNN Radio, "that was a deliberate systematic strategy."

Now the strategy seems to be an all-out effort to heap pressure on Pelosi, who opposes offshore oil drilling and has so far decided not to schedule a vote.

Democrats call the floor speeches and photo opportunities a "hoax". House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sent out a statement saying, "Republicans are doing nothing but pushing the failed Johnny-one-note policies of the past."

But Republicans keep adding pressure. After three days of speaking under shadows in the unlit House chamber, the GOP congressmen found themselves facing six television cameras and at least three dozen reporters when Newt Gingrich joined them Wednesday. The equivalent news conference Tuesday morning brought a single camera and approximately ten journalists.

Republican conference chairman Adam Putnam would not say how long he and his fellow conservatives will hold the floor. But there a clear sense of political momentum, as well as a lot of rah-rah, among Republicans rotating in and out of the chamber.

"The energy level is high," Putnam said, "and I think we've got a lot of energy left in us, don't we?" Some 15 Republicans behind him cheered.

The historian Gingrich pushed a broader view. "I think the energy level has shifted between the two parties in the last couple weeks," he said, "and my hunch is there are a lot of Democrats back home who are tap dancing."

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich encouraged conservatives to support John McCain's presidential bid Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich gave his approval to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s White House bid Saturday, telling a conservative crowd that political victory was more important than ideological purity.

“I think it’s a totally honorable thing to say 'I support the candidate but I oppose the policy,'” he told activists gathered for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Later, he made his view more explicit: “As a citizen, I would rather have a President McCain that we fight with 20 percent of the time than a President Clinton or a President Obama who we fight with 90 percent of the time.”

He said he had traveled to Idaho last weekend, when Illinois Sen. Barack Obama attracted a crowd of at least 16,000 in Boise, and that the ability of a Senate Democrat to attract a crowd of that size in that solidly-red state was “inconceivable.”

“On Super Tuesday, there were 14.6 million Democrats who thought the presidential nomination was worth voting for, and there were 8.3 million Republicans” who felt the same, he said. “That is a warning of a catastrophic election.”

He said there was “something happening” in the country that conservatives did not understand, and “I believe we need to change or expect defeat.” But he said a Republican win this fall was still possible.

It was a timely nod for McCain's candidacy. The likely GOP presidential nominee, who has struggled to win over his party's conservative base, was repeatedly booed during his own CPAC speech on Thursday.

Gingrich – who made a grand entrance Saturday to a recording of “Stars and Stripes Forever” – received a far different welcome from the conservative crowd. “We need you, Newt!” called one member of the audience.

The former Georgia congressman had weighed his own 2008 presidential run before abandoning the idea late last year. In the 2007 CPAC presidential straw poll, only Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani earned more first- and second-place votes.

He did not say Saturday whether he officially endorsed or would actively support McCain.

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Newt Gingrich surprised the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday when he said the conservative movement should declare its independence from the GOP.

There’s one other Declaration of Independence we need - and this will startle some of you.... In a fundamental way, the conservative movement has to declare itself independent from the Republican Party,” The former Republican speaker of the House said, bring gasps from the conservative activists gathered in Washington.

But Gingrich did not endorse the idea of conservatives forming a third party.

I think the third party is a dumb idea. It will not get anywhere and in the end will achieve nothing,” he said.

Despite his comments, Gingrich gave full support to the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, and called for conservatives to unite behind the Republican nominee.

–CNN's Melis Woodham

Watch Monday's highlight's from the campaign trail.

(CNN) - Watch Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee campaign in Michigan on Monday.

Related: Listen to Newt Gingrich on the Republican nomination race.

Gingrich announced Saturday he would not seek the presidency in 2008.

(CNN)–Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said it was legislation co-authored by a current candidate in the GOP presidential race, that prevented him from continuing to run his own political action committee, American Solution, and opening a presidential exploratory committee.

"Yesterday morning we learned from our attorneys that under the McCain-Feingold law, it is a criminal penalty if I had retained any communication with American Solutions. I could go to jail," Gingrich said Sunday in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "And the idea that you're on the turn of the dime kill this program in order to obey the McCain-Feingold Act which I think is an unconstitutional, frankly destructive bill, was crazy. And I just said if we have to choose, then it's irresponsible to not finish building up American Solutions."

Gingrich was referring to the 2002 piece of legislation authored by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, a current candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wisconsin, that regulates the financing of political campaigns.

Gingrich said his party does face a tough road in its quest to re-capture the White House. "I think the odds are 80 per cent that Sen. Clinton is the next president; I think she is almost certainly going to win the Democratic nomination," he said of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York. "And I think unless the Republicans can find a way to represent real change for the current situation in Washington, unless they can convince the American people they represent fundamental change, I think they'll have a very hard time."

On the current field of GOP candidates, Mr. Gingrich said he found them all to be "hardworking, smart people." He said he would hold off on endorsing any particular candidate until after the Republican National Convention next summer in Minneapolis.

– CNN Political Desk Editor Jamie Crawford