Common Ground Is Possible, Says Gingrich

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Nov. 12) -- In his first public speech since last week's election, a more conciliatory House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) declared Republicans would seek "every possible common ground" in working with President Bill Clinton.

Speaking to the members of GOPAC, a political action committee Gingrich once chaired, the speaker said, "When [Clinton] says, 'Can we find a common ground?' my answer is, 'Yes.' I think that's how we ought to enter into this."(256K WAV sound)

"It is vital for this country's future that we find some ability to reach beyond our partisanship and to reach beyond our personalities because that is what distinguishes America from other countries," Gingrich said.

Pledging to practice as he preaches, Gingrich said, "Trent Lott and I, representing the Senate and the House, will seek to find every possible common ground to work with him, for the betterment of America because the entire world is watching to see if we can make this experiment in self-government work."

But the often-controversial speaker did admit to residual anger about Democratic tactics during the congressional election. He was careful to note that the GOP was not granting amnesty to the White House on several campaign complaints. (288K WAV sound)

"And it's not that I'm saying, 'Let's give up on the Medicare dishonesty.' And it's not that I'm saying, 'Let's not look at the foreign corruption issue.' It's not that I'm saying, 'Let's turn our back on things we should know.' But let's put them in their proper perspective," Gingrich said.

Even so, Gingrich warned fellow Republicans that they "cannot allow ourselves to be mired down as the anti-Clinton party, subsumed in some sense of anger or rage."(192K WAV sound)

Assessing the outcome of this year's elections, Gingrich found an ideological silver lining for Republicans. "The only way Bill Clinton could win the presidency was to give up tax increases, give up the liberal welfare state, give up the core language of the left, declare publicly he was not a closet liberal, be indignant at the thought, and announce that he would basically govern on our terms. And I think that that is an enormous step," Gingrich said.

It is those conservative policies, according to Gingrich, that will allow Republicans to strengthen their control on Congress over the coming years. "I think 1998 is going to be a remarkably good Republican year, and I think we're going to gain seats," he predicted.

"In the next two years, we'll gain another five or 10 seats during the course of events, and we'll enter the '98 campaign, I think, probably at almost 240, and then we'll pick up another 20 seats, so we'll be in pretty good shape at the end of '98," Gingrich said.

The speaker did not address the suggestion from some in his party that he should step down from his post until the congressional ethics committee finishes its probe of him.

One fellow Georgia Republican, Rep. John Linder, has publicly backed Gingrich and lashed out at dissenting voices. "I think the membership ought to keep their mouths shut and wait and see what the report says," Linder said Monday. "There's something unseemly about members who get queasy and get out and attack their own leadership."

Common Ground Is Possible, Says Gingrich

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