Reverberations from Newt Gingrich’s election as Minority Whip in the House continue to shake the Capitol. Democrats are undone. Says David Obey (D., Wis.): “Newt Gingrich is to the American political system what Frank Lorenzo is to Eastern Airlines.” . . . Washington Post quotes an unnamed Democratic aide on Gingrich. “[He is] the political equivalent of a computer virus.” . . . “The prospect of Mr. Gingrich as Minority Whip does not gladden the hearts of Democrats,” commented the New York Times in its preliminary news story. . . . Political analyst Kevin Phillips describes Gingrich as “a longtime maverick, agitator, and quasi-pariah, a political provocateur.” . . . Less talented polemicists tend to call him a “firebrand.” . . . Speaker Jim Wright would like “to abate this harsh, angry, really hateful degree of partisanship.” . . . Most Republicans in House were delighted. “I’ve long since thought that we need a little more emphasis on the word ‘opposition’ and a little less emphasis on the word ‘loyal’ ”—Dick Armey (Tex.). . . . Rep. Lynn Martin (Ill.): “We accommodated ourselves for a number of years and we’ve ended up with fewer seats. Let’s try something else.” … A thumbnail sketch in the always temperate Christian Science Monitor found Gingrich a forceful debater “whose sentences pour out rounded, parsed, suitable for framing.” . . . Back in Georgia, Dave Worley, who was whupped by Gingrich 59 to 41 per cent last November, reportedly is gearing up for a rematch next year.
GOP lost its second House seat since November (the first was lost when Richard Cheney moved to Defense) with surprise victory of Democrat Jill Long over Republican Dan Heath in Indiana. The special election was called after Representative Dan Coats was named to fill Dan Quayle’s Senate seat. . . . Rep. Lynn Martin is more than interested in Sen. Paul Simon’s seat, says Chicago Sun-Times. She’s set up an exploratory committee. . . . There’s a possibility of a Republican pickup in Connecticut, where Democratic Gov. William O’Neill’s approval rating is down to 33 per cent (fiscal problems, new taxes). . . . Now that young Joe Kennedy has taken himself out of gubernatorial race in Massachusetts, former Democratic National Chairman Paul Kirk could be interested in a run for it. . . . Human Events says Jamie Bush, the President’s nephew (son of Prescott), may take on Rep. Gerry Studds (D., Mass.) next year.
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