Gingrich On The GOP Griddle

House Speaker Newt Gingrich suddenly finds himself dealing with a crisis - a growing number of Republicans are blaming Gingrich for the pasting they took on Election Night and want to dump him, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer reports.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston of Louisiana may challenge him. Oklahoma conservative Steve Largent is telling colleagues he'll do it if Livingston doesn't.

Gingrich spent part of the day reaching out to members of the rank-and-file as he sought to firm up backing for a third term as the leader of the Republican majority.

"The members have been almost wholly personally supportive," said spokeswoman Christina Martin, who added firmly that the Georgia Republican would seek a third term as speaker.

The Democratic pickup of five seats also marked the first time since 1934 that the party in power in the White House added seats in the House in a midterm election.

"I think there will be a challenge" to Gingrich, said Rep. John Linder, a fellow Georgian.

Turmoil within the Republican ranks was evident. Gingrich aside, challenges appeared possible to Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas and Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, fourth-ranking member of the leadership.

Boehner's name also bubbled up as a potential rival to Armey. An aide to the Ohio Republican said, "Right now Boehner is looking for a consensus approach to solving the problems in our conference. Mr. Boehner is not campaigning to run against Dick Armey."

The one member of the current top echelon of leadership most likely to emerge unscathed appeared to be Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, the whip. He is given high marks for a strong performance in the whip's job, even though his personal relations with Gingrich, Armey and Boehner were rubbed raw by his part in an abortive coup against the speaker in 1997.

Gingrich admits he might have done things differently. But he is downplaying talk of any challenge.

In an interview on CBS This Morning Gingrich said, "I think everybody who cares about public life ought to look at these elections and figure out what the American people are saying."

He denied suggestions that the party leadership had adoptd the wrong strategy for the mid-term election. "This is the only Republican team that has gotten re-elected three times in the lifetime of anybody around," he said. "You have to go back to 1928 to have the same thing."

Gingrich immediately set out his agenda for the next session of Congress: "I think a Republican party which emphasizes saving Social Security, cutting taxes, strengthening national defense, winning the war on drugs, can be a majority party through the next decade."