Gingrich: GOP Needs to 'Stop Talking,' Start Thinking

In a less-than-subtle column for Politico, Newt Gingrich blasts the GOP for being downright "wrong" about pretty much everything from voter turnout to the best advertising messages to "the makeup of the electorate." Bottom line: "Republicans spent more and achieved less than Democrats in 2012," Gingrich writes, resulting in a failure not just for the Romney-Ryan ticket but for the entire party. He lists a number of other races the GOP should have won, but didn't: In short, "This was a party-wide defeat and should be thought of as a profound wake-up call."

All the analysts who are responding by coming up with explanations and solutions need to stop and take a breath, Gingrich says. It's only been a week, and no one can really know yet what happened or how the GOP should respond. The Republicans need to spend some time thinking—"this will be the work of six months, not six days," he says—and then work to develop "a generation of growth-oriented, solution-oriented, innovative government that combines the American Constitution and traditional principles of self government with 21st-century solutions to meet 21st-century challenges." Click for Gingrich's full piece. (More Newt Gingrich stories.)