possible light . It was only in tearing down the House that Gingrich thought that it could be rebuilt in the Republicans ' -- or perhaps , his -- own image . To Gingrich 's credit , the Democratic leadership was always ready to misstep and then meet him in the partisan mud . Whether it was his fight with Speaker Tip O'Neill about who controlled the television cameras in the House or his relentless pursuit of Speaker Jim Wright 's sweetheart book deal , Gingrich would not back down from a fight even if at first it appeared the evidence was against him . Gingrich became a master at using the legislative process to achieve his political goals . This strategy from Gingrich 's House days is , of course , well known . What is less well known is that members who previously served with Gingrich in the House spread these highly partisan tactics to the Senate . I am writing a book about these senators , who I call `` Gingrich senators , '' because they so seamlessly infected the Senate with the same hyper-partisanship that pervaded the House . Since Gingrich 's first election to the
Austin , Texas -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The current squabbling between the House and the Senate on the payroll tax cut extension perfectly epitomizes why congressional approval is in the single digits . Highlighting this debacle , Newt Gingrich ends his first television ad in Iowa proclaiming that by `` working together , we can and will rebuild the America we love . '' Expecting Newt Gingrich to work together with Democrats and Republicans to end the partisan deadlock in Washington is a bit like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop . When Gingrich entered the House of Representatives in 1979 , he quickly became the leader of a group of insurgent conservatives whose chief aim was a Republican Party majority . Gingrich 's partisan antics not only transformed the House , but the Senate as well . Washington has not been the same since . Even from his first term , when he tried to get Rep. Charles Diggs kicked out of the House -LRB- despite his re-election after being convicted of 29 felonies -RRB- , it became clear that Gingrich would use every Democratic misstep and every legislative opportunity to portray the House in the worst