Gingrich Slammed By GOP Over Medicare Remarks
KAYE: Time now for the a CNN Political Update. And Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is having some issues with his own party over his comments Medicare reform. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins me now from Washington. Paul, what is this controversy all about?</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Randi, six days after Gingrich formally announces for president and I guess you could say the honeymoon is already over. Here's what happened. Sunday, on the talk shows, on the Sunday talk shows, the former House speaker, he was asked about Paul Ryan, the Budget chairman in the House, his Medicare plan, which Republicans overwhelmingly approve of, and this is what he said. He called it radical change, he was somewhat critical of it. He also, talking about health care, he said he supported a some kind of concept of the individual mandate, another big no-no with the Republicans. So since then, in the last 48 hours, Gingrich has been really slammed by a lot of the conservatives, by a lot of Republicans. So I guess you could definitely say he may be a little bit in the doghouse. Gingrich talked to our Jim Acosta last night in Iowa, that is where Gingrich is, a good place to place to be if you are running for president, of course. And he had actually had some complimentary things to say about Ryan. And today, in what also appears to be a little bit of damage control, Gingrich signed a petition calling for the repeal of President Obama's health care law, which was passed last year by Democrats in Congress. So keep your eyes on this story, Randi, it's far from over.</s>KAYE: All right, I certainly will. And what's this buzz today over the Wisconsin Senate race? What is happening there?</s>STEINHAUSER: Yes, some big names here. Let's go back to Paul Ryan, the Budget chairman, a congressman from Wisconsin. He told our Candy Crowley the other day on the Sunday talk shows that he would announce this week whether he would or would not run for that open Senate seat in Wisconsin. We found out today, and the answer is no. He is going to stay in the House, he says he can do better work for the country from the House. But here's who now may run for that seat, a guy called Tommy Thompson. If you remember, he was the long-time governor of Wisconsin, and since then he was also the Health and Human Services secretary under President Bush and ran for the White House as a Republican four years ago. He is very likely now to run for this seat, which is held by Herb Cole, a Democrat, who announced the other day he is not running for reelection. Randi, remember, the Democrats have a slight edge in the Senate. They're going to try to hold on to it in the next election. We'll see if they can keep it -- Randi.</s>KAYE: They are going to try and hold on tight. All right, Paul. Thank you.</s>STEINHAUSER: Yes, they are.