MARIETTA, Georgia (AllPolitics, November 7) -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Saturday he decided to quit the speakership and Congress in the face of a Republican insurgency, because he did not want to be a "distraction."

Gingrich talks to reporters in front of his home

Gingrich, in his first public comments since his surprise decision Friday to step aside, told reporters Republicans will have to work together to keep their congressional majorities and win the presidency in 2000.

"I don't think anybody should be a distraction," Gingrich said. "I think the country is bigger than all of us."

Gingrich said that after working on conservative causes for 40 years and winning three consecutive Republican majorities in Congress, "I could hardly stand by and allow the party to cannibalize itself in that situation, and I felt it (the decision to step down) was best for all of us."

Gingrich also said he felt he had to leave Congress, not just give up the speakership.

"I think, as a practical matter, for me to stay in the House would make it impossible for a new leader to have a chance to grow, to learn and to do what they need to do," he said. "And I think there comes a time when you've got to step out and let a new team take over, let a new team try to do the best they can."

Gingrich said it will take every ounce of effort to keep GOP majorities in Congress and win the White House in 2000. He managed a slap, too, at the Democratic front-runner.

"The prospects of Al Gore as president and a Democratic Congress should be enough to focus every Republican in the country on learning to work as a team in a positive way, to make sure that we offer a better future," Gingrich said.

His decision to step down after Tuesday's election setbacks for the Republicans could spark a messy free-for-all to succeed him.

Three GOP lawmakers are either already in the race to become the next speaker or mulling over whether to run, and more could jump into the competition before a November 18 Republican caucus to pick leaders for the new Congress.

So far, Gingrich's would-be successors include Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, who announced Friday, even before Gingrich bowed out; Rep. Christopher Cox of California, who announced on CNN's "Larry King Live" Friday night; and Rep. James Talent of Missouri, who is thinking about it.

But Rep. Bill Archer of Texas, who was considering running, has decided against it.

"I may be the right man for the job, but the job just isn't right for me at this time in my career," Archer, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters Saturday.

With the situation so unsettled and Republicans debating how best to position themselves for 2000, other candidates could emerge. As speaker, Gingrich was the symbol of rock-ribbed GOP conservatism, and House members will have to weigh what sort of speaker they want to replace him.

The debate already is under way over whether the Republicans' election setbacks Tuesday resulted from the lack of a clear message or the wrong message, and whether the GOP needs to pick someone who represents a more inclusive party -- for example, Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington, known as a moderate.

The maneuvering to oust Gingrich and others on his leadership team began almost immediately after the elections, when instead of cementing their majorities in Congress, Republicans lost five seats in the House and only held steady in the Senate.

The first person to declare for speaker was Livingston, who actually had been sounding out members earlier this year in case Gingrich bowed out to run for president in 2000.

Livingston, known for his fiscal conservatism, stressed his nuts-and-bolts legislative experience when he announced his candidacy.

"Revolutionizing takes some talents, many talents," said Livingston, the 55-year-old chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "My friend Newt Gingrich brought those talents to bear and put the Republicans in the majority. Day-to-day governing takes others. I believe I have those talents."

Livingston's candidacy, only a day old, already has divided conservatives. The Christian Traditional Values Coalition called Livingston's candidacy "a poignant example of Clintonesque self-deception."

But Chairman David Keene of the American Conservative Union issued a letter of support for Livingston, calling him "a leader who knows the difference between tilting at windmills and achieving conservative goals -- and what it takes to do both."

Livingston supporters, who asked not to be identified by name, told The Associated Press he already has at least 80 of the 112 votes needed to become speaker. The balance of power in the new Congress will be 223 Republicans, 211 Democrats and one independent who usually sides with Democrats.

Livingston also won the endorsement Saturday of House Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

Cox, the other declared candidate, announced his bid for the speakership as official Washington was still reeling from Gingrich's sudden decision.

"I haven't a hat, but if I did, I would take it off and toss it in," Cox told King.

Cox, 46, said the leadership question goes beyond the future of the Republican Party.

"The speaker of the House is just that -- the speaker of the House," Cox said. "It is the people's house. It is the business of all of America that is at stake."

The least known of the possible candidates so far is Talent, a four-term Missouri lawmaker from the St. Louis area. He played a role in the 1996 welfare reform debate but doesn't have a national profile.

In his news conference, Archer, 70, predicted Republicans will pull together to pick Gingrich's successor.

"I don't sense right now that there is going to be a bloody battle within the Republican Party, but there will be, obviously, competition," Archer said.

Archer said he was not prepared to declare his support for Livingston or anyone else at this point. He said he was satisfied he could have won the speakership if he had declared and moved forward to get the votes, but came to the conclusion the job wasn't right for him.

Archer said he is better suited to deal with "focused subject matter," like tax policy or Social Security and Medicare reform. "That is my inner temperament," he said.

The lawmaker, known for his support of capital gains tax cuts and expanded IRAs, was one of the architects of the Republicans' "Contract with America."

On another front, Rep. Steve Largent of Oklahoma has announced a bid to replace House Majority Leader Dick Armey in the No. 2 House leadership post.

Gingrich reported 'serene'

Meanwhile, more details emerged Saturday about Gingrich's decision to step aside rather than risk a damaging intramural struggle over whom to blame for Republican setbacks on the federal budget and at the ballot box.

Gingrich's comments during a Friday night conference call with GOP colleagues suggested he knew he would remain a lightning rod for criticism and that some members would not vote for him as speaker again.

"I spent 40 years of my life getting us here," Gingrich told Republican lawmakers. "The idea that I would be the excuse to cannibalize the majority is so sickening I couldn't risk it."

Gingrich spokeswoman Christina Martin said Saturday that Gingrich knows he made the right decision.

"There's a certain peaceful serenity, a peaceful relieved happiness about him," Martin told The Associated Press.

His days in politics aren't over, Martin added. "He just won't have the distractions of being speaker."

The timing of when Gingrich will actually leave Congress remains uncertain. He suggested he would resign by year's end from the Georgia congressional seat he holds, but Martin said that decision is not definitive. She said, though, it was "highly likely he will not serve out the term to which he was just elected."

When he spoke with reporters Saturday, Gingrich said he was researching the legalities and timing of his resignation, and was confident a Republican candidate would win a special election to replace him.

Saturday, November 7, 1998

• Gingrich says he didn't want to be 'a distraction'
• Who's who in the battle for the GOP leadership
• Clinton pushes crackdown on 'illegal arms bazaars'

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