Newt Gingrich would rather talk about ideas than his campaign in Atlanta appearance
It was the ancient Athenian philosopher Plato who argued that the world of ideas had greater value than the physical world known through sensation, but it took Newt Gingrich to try to make that argument in 21st century America.
Gingrich, whose campaign for the GOP nomination for president has been hit by staff resignations, funding problems and, most recently, a Washington Post report that he had two lines of credit at a glitzy jewelry emporium, took on the press Wednesday, sort of a Daniel in the lion’s den moment, to insist his campaign was still alive.
“I want to say one thing about the campaign before I begin,” Gingrich said at the Atlanta Press Club, reported by CNN. “In July of 2007 Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic nominee and Rudy Giuliani the Republican [nominee]. John McCain was out of money and written off by the press. The fact is campaigns go up and down.”
Photos: Potential 2012 GOP candidates
“I’m happy to talk to you about public policy,” Gingrich told reporters in another snippet broadcast by MSNBC. “I’m not going to talk to you about campaign stuff. That’s all campaign gossip.”
When pressed by reporters, Gingrich repeated, no fewer than four times. “I’m not going to discuss it.”
Part of what the former House speaker was refusing to discuss was the report in the Washington Post that he had a second line of credit, worth up to $1 million, at Tiffany’s. This was on top of earlier reports that he had a line of credit of up to $500,000 at the store. The campaign confirmed the second line of credit but said it had been closed.
Nor did Gingrich want to discuss his staffing issues, such as the resignation of 16 paid staffers on June 9. This week it was reported that two fundraisers had also stepped down.
During the staffers’ exodus Gingrich was dismissive, saying that he wanted to run a campaign of ideas, in essence, positioning himself as a key voice in the GOP debates, rather than as an electoral player in 2012.
In his Tuesday speech, posted on his website, Gingrich unveiled one of those ideas, backing a proposal by presidential rival Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to audit the Federal Reserve. Gingrich also praised Paul’s efforts over the years in confronting the Fed.
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