Newt Gingrich has put up a new blog post, responding to right-wing criticism for his endorsement of moderate Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in the NY-23 special election, instead of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.
Gingrich explains the importance of having a big tent in a party, and of reaching out to moderates who help to build an actual majority. And towards the end, he crosses over into directly questioning the maturity of his detractors:
Through my experience as Speaker of the House and building a Republican majority in 1994, I have learned that if America wants a conservative majority in Washington, parts of that majority are going to disagree. I was elected Speaker because a number of moderates voted for me. They gave us control of the House for the first time in forty years, allowing us to balance the federal budget, cut taxes and reform welfare for America.
…
My number one interest is to build a Republican majority. If your interest is taking power back from the Left, and your interest is winning the necessary elections, then there are times when you have to put together a coalition that has disagreement within it.
We have to decide which business we are in. If we are in the business about feeling good about ourselves while our country gets crushed then I probably made the wrong decision.
