Gingrich says Romney can manage Washington but he can change it

US Republican presidential hopeful former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington on October 7, 2011. / NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Image

US Republican presidential hopeful former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington on October 7, 2011.

/ NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Image

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Newt Gingrich began to take his measure against Mitt Romney on Friday, a sign of his emergence in the polls as a potential challenger to the Republican who for the past year has seemed to have the inside track for the party's presidential nomination.

Left for politically dead months ago after a mass exodus by his staff, Gingrich is enjoying a political resurrection as other Romney challengers founder. At an opening of his campaign headquarters here, the former House speaker suggested he's better qualified to transform Washington than the former governor of Massachusetts.

"Governor Romney is a good manager and if what you want to do is manage Washington, I think he would be a pretty good manager candidate," Gingrich told a crowd of about 60 here. "But if what you want to do is fundamentally, profoundly change Washington, I think that is a different job."

Though a CBS News poll shows him tied with Romney nationally behind Herman Cain, Gingrich said "I am clearly an underdog in New Hampshire," where the first presidential primary of the 2012 campaign season will take place Jan. 10.

Asked about whom a President Gingrich might appoint to his Cabinet, Gingrich couldn't resist crowing about the reversal in his fortunes. "I've gone from being dead in June to having somebody who will be in the Cabinet in November," he said. "I think that is real progress."

[longtree-2009]

at this point there are only three possibles left among the many republican candidates and it looks like it's romney, newt, cain. it might turn out to be romney/newt vs. obama/biden. each of the candidates and obama, biden have those that love them and those that hate them. the republican goal should be to unseat obama with the best candidate duo that can appeal to the entire nation regardless of age, gender, political party. no matter which of them you love, do support them with a huge contribution to their campaign.

[RingerDaMan]

HELLO!! 1994, Contract with America. He was a lead architect that lead to the "Clinton Era Surplus".

Most people have been WRONGLY lead to believe that Clinton was the reason for the surplus, but in fact it was the Republicans who controlled the budget. In fact Clinton didn't think enough of what the Republicans were saying with regards to the budget that they had to SHUT DOWN the Government to prove their point. They WOULD NOT spend another dime over what they had to. And it worked.

Since then your economics professors and history revisionists decided it was all Bill Clinton's doing despite having veto'd the budget twice because the Republicans kept cutting the budget.

[Jhihmoac]

Gingra the Hutt has trouble changing his own soiled sheets - BLAH!

[cybervigilante]

The Republicans are frantically trying to find the candidate who makes them puke the least. They should ask Glenn Blechhh.

[cybervigilante]

And he was right to get rid of his crybaby wife just because she had cancer, and get a nice young chickie. Newt's The Man!

[jambo223]

Yes, into the cesspool that has been his life.

[kawefjkasekludnasebf]

"I believe that Ronald Reagan can make this country what it once was - an Arctic region covered in ice"
-- Steve Martin

[Shibbol]

Really bad headline. Send the headline editor home for some sleep.

[Quivley]

We know how divisive and hated Gingrich was as speaker of the house, so it is reasonable to assume Gingrich has far too many enemies in D.C. for him to create real change. But Gingrich has no way of knowing the degree of change Mitt Romney can accomplish with his program for a smaller, simpler, smarter government. Everyone targets Romney because he is the strongest candidate. Many of the attacks against him are unfair. Yet Romney responds as a gentleman and a diplomat. He is the only Republican candidate who can effectively work with independents, democrats, moderates,and conservatives to get the government out of grid lock and the economy moving again.

[citizen1st]

What a ludicrous claim by Gingrich that HE would be the one to change DC. He's been there for how many decades? What has he been waiting for? So ridiculous that Gingrich is the latest flavor of the week, the latest un-Romney. Gingrich has more (im)moral baggage than Clinton, was tossed out of his leadership position as Speaker of the House by his OWN party!!! Along with the crazy loons like Bachmann/Santorum, or the angry-unqualified Cain, Gingrich would be a gift to Obama. Not because he is crazy. Oh no, he is quite crafty. But he has a well documented & lengthy career. And now that he is getting that extra look, soon people will remember why Gingrich was tossed on his a$$ along time ago. As weak as Obama is, THIS is the best the GOP can muster to stand against him??? This group is pathetic.

[RingerDaMan]

Seriously, you should learn your history before saying something this nonsensical. You are either ignorant to the facts or know them and just prefer lying.

Clinton RAPED someone. That's right, RAPED. He paid over $800,000 to make it go away.

Newt left his wife true enough. I don't like it either. But to say he was more immoral that Clinton is an absolute outrage.

He won his first election in 1978 and was in the House until 1999.

Now think about that. In the House of Representatives you are up for election every 2 years. That means he won 10 straight elections before deciding to leave politics.

He was also a co-author for the Contract With America which was the REAL reason we had a budget surplus in the 90's. It was NOT because of Clinton despite what your liberal professor may have told you.