Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Thursday pitched a forward-looking Republican Party that harnesses emerging technologies and can deride former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as the “leading prison guard of the past” if she runs for president in 2016.
He gave a nod to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who on Friday morning called for “a little rebellion on the battlefield of ideas” at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“I would suggest it’s time for a big rebellion on the battlefield of ideas,” Mr. Gingrich said Saturday.
If conservatives simply oppose President Obama and Mrs. Clinton and do nothing else it will actually damage the GOP’s prospects in the 2014 midterms and 2016 presidential election, he said.
He called teachers’ unions “the biggest prison guards of education” and slammed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for his recent actions on charter schools in the city.
Mr. Gingrich said that conservatives, by harnessing technology such as the iPhone, can saddle Mrs. Clinton with the label of “leading prison guard of the past” and drag down the Democratic Party in the process.
“There is a revolution coming, and we have the opportunity to lead it,” he said.
Mr. Gingrich also offered a tongue-in-cheek “defense” of Mr. Obama for leaving Washington for Key Largo, Fla. this weekend in the middle of the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
“I believe he can be as ineffective in Key Largo as he was in the White House,” he quipped.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.