Newt Gingrich is revising his advice to Republicans for their fall campaign lines to be that they would vote to “repeal” the health care bill, saying now they should use the world “replace.”
We’ve been reporting on that campaign line, which Gingrich has been championing for several weeks.
In a brief stop in Atlanta this week, Gingrich said Republicans have ideas on health care, and that at least “400” pages of the nearly 4,000 pages in the Democrats’ health care bill “have to be good.”
Still, the line should be scrap it, Gingrich said.
“I think every Republican candidate in the country is going to say that they want to replace the bill with something better,” Gingrich said, according to The Georgia Report (sub. req.). “I don’t think they use the word ‘repeal,’ they use the word ‘replace.'”
Most of the coverage of the brief stop focused on Gingrich criticizing Obama for not televising health care negotiations on C-Span. He also defended RNC Chairman Mike Steele’s leadership and said people should “just relax.”
“I think Michael Steele makes a number of old-time Republicans very nervous,” Gingrich said. “I think that there are a number of Republicans who wish they could just find a good boring old-time Republican to be in that job so that wouldn’t make them nervous.”
Listen to the Gingrich appearance here. The “replace” remark comes about 16 minutes in to this audio clip provided by the Georgia Report.
Also worth noting, Gingrich is making an upcoming stop in New Hampshire.
