(9 of 10)
In backing off the deal, Gingrich showed that he was suppressing his first instinct, which is to strike back. He may be learning that the street-fighting tactics that worked so well for him as a backbencher can look unseemly when they are tried by the Speaker of the House. And the vast, multimillion-dollar network of political and charitable organizations that he has built to spread his gospel could be a difficult target to defend. All of them draw their financial support from overlapping groups of business executives and other wealthy supporters whose identities Gingrich has resisted disclosing until recently. The donors range from restaurant and bar operators to the owners of vast mail-order operations. They will now be looking to the Republican Congress to stave off a hike in the minimum wage, resist health-insurance mandates and block any ideas to shift taxes from income to consumption. Controversial as they are, Gingrich's outside enterprises are probably as important to him as being Speaker. In some ways, they are what made him Speaker. GOPAC was a major force in giving last year's election its national theme. Through its seminars and training tapes, it helped G.O.P. candidates hone their messages, which, not so incidentally, were Gingrich's as well. Among his other endeavors are a think tank, the Progress and Freedom Foundation; a syndicated talk show called The Progress Report; and his 10-week college course, "Renewing American Civilization." Even with all he needs to get done in the first 100 days, Gingrich plans to shut down House business by 3 p.m. each Friday so that he can fly to Georgia in time to make his Saturday- morning teaching stint at Reinhardt College in Waleska. His advisers speak of reaching hundreds of thousands of people through that class, in which Gingrich spells out his vision of the world in 20 hours. It is marketed through an 800 number, broadcast on the conservative National Empowerment Television network and offered through colleges around the country. "We need a clarity and a simplicity, because people are going to be listening," Gingrich told the organizers of the course as they met to plan this semester's curriculum.