Gingrich Warns G.O.P. Swift Change Is Needed
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON — Newt Gingrich, the man who engineered the Republican takeover of the House in 1994, warned his fellow Republicans on Tuesday that they faced disastrous losses in November without a quick change in political course.
In what was titled “My Plea to Republicans,” published on the Web site of the periodical Human Events, Mr. Gingrich, a former speaker, urged House Republicans to convene an emergency meeting in the wake of Saturday’s loss of a longtime Republican House seat in Louisiana. He called on them to force the leadership into devising a new approach to the coming elections.
“This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee,” Mr. Gingrich wrote.
The loss in Louisiana was the second special-election defeat this year in a Republican stronghold. Party officials said that a third defeat next week, in a Republican district in Mississippi, could cause turmoil. At a private party meeting Tuesday, lawmakers were encouraged to contribute money to the Republican candidate in Mississippi if they had not already given.
With a vote looming on a war spending measure, House Republicans were scheduled to gather with President Bush on Wednesday morning at the White House, where he was expected to discuss the war financing, rising gasoline prices, the housing downturn and a stalled terrorism surveillance bill. Republicans have in the past responded to Mr. Bush’s efforts to rally behind him.
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