Newt Gingrich Stirs Up Old Memories: Former Speaker's Success Draws Mixed Reactions from Ex-Colleagues

From Los Angeles Times, "Gingrich the candidate? GOP lawmakers grapple with the idea":

As the prospect of Newt Gingrich landing the Republican nomination for president started feeling intensely real last week, the former House speaker placed a call to a man in a position to cause major damage.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina once led a band of GOP rebels who tried to oust Gingrich, and hadn't spoken to him about those days of internecine warfare in the 14 years since.

The two men talked for more than an hour, Graham said, and the senator came away hopeful that the man who once "drove us all crazy" had changed. "The question has to be, 'Is the Newt today different than the Newt then?' " Graham said this week. "Seems to me that he is, but time will tell."

Others who had a close-up view of Gingrich's leadership remain skeptical.

"Some people are willing to reconsider him. I'm not," said Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio), one of the remaining members of the Class of '94, whose arrival in the House made Gingrich the first Republican speaker in 40 years. "His leadership skills back in the '90s were not consistent with what I would want to see in the president of the United States."

As Gingrich continues to surge in polls, Republicans on Capitol Hill are grappling with their attitude toward their former leader. Few in Washington have more baggage than Gingrich, and most in Washington know what's in it. The question of whether Gingrich can convince his party that he's evolved may determine whether his support grows or falls back.

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