Gingrich also argued that President Obama was ill-advised to take on conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. The president told congressional leaders of both parties that “you can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” In the former speaker’s view, “presidents are well served to deal with historic patterns because it makes them feel presidential. I can’t imagine the net advantage of the newly elected president of the United States – with 70 percent approval – picking a fight with a guy who will absolutely profit from the fight.”
Palin: Formidable if prepared
Alaska's Governor Palin, John McCain’s running mate in 2008, could be “very formidable” as a presidential candidate in 2012, Gingrich said. But he stipulated that would be the case only if she “seeks out a group of sophisticated policy advisers” and “spends time developing a series of fairly sophisticated positions.” He noted that “Palin starts in Iowa with a substantial advantage. I think she has a very big base among the fundamentalist wing of the party.”
He also mentioned two other potential Republican presidential candidates. “If the economy is still a mess a year from now, then [former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt] Romney’s economic credentials start to come back in an important way,” Gingrich said. He cautioned that “Romney has got to figure out how to close the sale.”
And if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison becomes governor of Texas, the second largest state, “she is an instantly formidable candidate,” Gingrich said.
Federal stimulus: sending dollars to China through Wal-Mart
It will take the United States three to five years to work its way out of the current economic crisis, in Gingrich’s view. Government economic stimulus is “a quaint term for sending money to China through Wal-Mart,” he quipped.
Government bailouts of banks and auto companies came in for stinging criticism.
