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Though he would be Speaker in a matter of weeks, Gingrich was still operating in mid-December from his old command center, a single, cramped office near the House chamber. Outside the heavy double doors, the footsteps of an occasional tourist or two punctuated the thick silence of the otherwise empty corridor. Inside, Gingrich was in a frenzy, carrying on simultaneous conferences with his staff, Armey's staff, chief political adviser Joseph Gaylord and Gingrich's mother, who had phoned from Pennsylvania. His major concern was the volley that had just landed from the Democrats: Michigan's David Bonior, the Democratic whip who was emerging as Gingrich's chief critic, was calling for an outside counsel to investigate whether charges that Gingrich had used the college course he teaches -- a course financed by tax- deductible contributions to foundations -- to further his political agenda. Gingrich remarked to his aides that if Democrats were looking for a fight, he'd happily oblige them by raising a few questions about some of the political-action committees that they operate.
Yet the drumbeat is not likely to stop anytime soon. Gingrich backed away last week from a controversial book deal in which he was to get a $4.5 million advance for writing two books for HarperCollins, a publishing house controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The deal had prompted Democrats to charge that he was violating the time-honored Washington tradition of waiting until he was out of office to cash in. Bob Dole, whose lack of fondness for Gingrich could make theirs the most interesting relationship since the Dallas Cowboys' ill- fated management team of Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones, noted pointedly that the new Speaker's book bonanza was hardly the most savvy political move as the party prepares to slash programs for the poor. "It's not too popular around people who talk to me," said Dole. "They think it's a lot of money." By week's end Gingrich had changed the deal so that he will get only a $1 advance and will be paid in future royalty payments instead. He explained that he didn't want to give his critics "something to run around and yell about."