Gingrich sticks to script in Saturday’s Louisiana primary
Standing against the backdrop of a chalkboard and two massive charts featuring the periodic table, Newt Gingrich spent his final campaign event ahead of Saturday’s Louisiana primary addressing a classroom full of Tulane University students. For nearly 45 minutes, the former House speaker talked at length about an array of somewhat unexpected subjects, including the Wright Brothers feud with the Smithsonian over the birth of modern aviation—an analogy he made to highlight private enterprise versus over-the-top government spending. He described himself as a “dreamer” and defended his efforts to champion future space exploration.
“I’m a visionary,” Gingrich declared at one point, pausing the explain that as a professor at Tulane, his alma mater, he had taught a class specifically about the “year 2000.” During an extended riff on the country’s growing debt crisis, Gingrich paused and asked, “Has anyone here looked at Greece?” Not a single hand was raised, as some students exchanged looks. At one point, Gingrich even faked a German accent to imitate an old professor who had criticized him for being too tan when he should be pale from studying inside the library all day. “He was very German,” Gingrich explained. It was not until the end of his remarks that Gingrich made his first and only mention of Louisiana’s primary. “The point of my campaign is that big ideas matter. Talking about things is worth it,” the ex-speaker declared. “I need your help tomorrow.”
There were no signs he’s thinking of dropping his bid at all for the race at all!! Standing behind the lectern at Tulane, Gingrich seemed as though he were in heaven. At one point, he waxed on romantically about New Orleans, where he lived for several years while attending Tulane. ‘The culture, the city, the sense of life here is so unique,” Gingrich said.
Harry Connick, Jr. – Mardi Gras in New Orleans