Republicans, Democrats Wrangle Over Gingrich Admission - Dec. 22, 1996
Gingrich Admits To Ethics Violations - Dec. 21, 1996
Newt Gingrich's Dec. 21, 1996 Statement
Newt Gingrich's Sixth District Home Page
The Official Friends of Newt Gingrich
Republicans Rally Around Gingrich
But Many People Think His Influence Will Be Further Diminished
WASHINGTON (Dec. 23) -- House Republicans insist Newt Gingrich is still their champion, guilty of nothing that would impair his role as a re-elected speaker.
"He will be even more effective, because he will have gotten behind him this episode that has been dogging him relentlessly by the Democratic leadership for years now," said Bob Barr (R-Ga.), a Gingrich ally.
In fact, Gingrich's political standing could well be in doubt.
"I don't think he's going to be the national figure that he was in the early days of 1995, when he was sort of setting the national agenda," said Michael Barone of Reader's Digest.
Even before the ethics case reached critical mass over the weekend, there was widespread opinion in Washington that Gingrich would be a diminished figure in the new Congress.
President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign effectively used him as a target, arguing that a vote for Bob Dole was a vote for Newt.
Among the beneficiaries of the power shift is Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, whose own place in the Washington equation should be enhanced, and Clinton, who could find Lott less confrontational than Gingrich.
And even if, as most expect, the House ethics committee Decides only on a reprimand for Gingrich, the least serious punishment option, observers say it will fit a pattern of power downsizing.
Says ethics attorney Kenneth Gross: "This is another blow at the speaker's ability to fully command Congress, so I think it will have to have some effect in diminishing his authority."
And what was it that spelled the most trouble for Gingrich with his House colleagues and perhaps for the American people? Ethics attorney Gross says it wasn't the tax question.
"I think the biggest problem in this whole mess is the allegation that he submitted a false statement to the ethics committee," Gross said. "The tax issue, which is another issue, is a more difficult one. It's a line-drawing issue, but I think everybody can understand what a misstatement is."
Gingrich's immediate goal, of course, is getting the ethics case and its punishment behind him, being re-elected speaker, which seems likely, and then working to undo the damage all this has done to his political image.
This story originally appeared on CNN's "Inside Politics."