Gingrich: "No idea at this stage" if he'll run in 2016

At a book-signing event in Naples, Fla., Newt Gingrich was peddling fiction and talking politics.

While autographing copies of his new novel, "Victory at Yorktown," the former house speaker kept the door open to another presidential bid, telling the Naples Daily News that he has "no idea at this stage" whether he will seek the White House in 2016.

Before he makes that decision, though, he wants his party to "take a deep breath" and undertake a "very serious analysis" of the lessons of the 2012 campaign.

He counseled the GOP to "modernize and adapt" in reaction to a changing electorate and advised both parties to "slow down and listen to each other."

Gingrich was less prescriptive on what exactly "modernize and adapt" might entail - he called for a "practical solution" to immigration reform but largely eschewed a discussion of policy details.

On a resolution to the upcoming fiscal cliff, the package of spending cuts and tax hikes slated to land at the outset of 2013, Gingrich seemed disinclined to accept half a loaf: "No deal is better than a terrible deal."

Gingrich also said he plans to write a postmortem look at the 2012 election for release next summer.