Federal election law allows candidates to use small portions of their campaign money to promote their books. But the cross-promotion, and the impression that Gingrich is not campaigning heavily, has prompted speculation that his efforts are motivated by something other than a desire to become president.
That was even the subject of a “Saturday Night Live” parody of a recent Republican debate, with the Gingrich character acknowledging his lack of interest in the campaign and walking offstage.
Gingrich says he has done nothing improper by intertwining his campaign with his promotional activities, and during his remarks at an event in Doylestown this week he emphasized that he is committed to his presidential campaign — but not before giving a plug to his wife’s book, “Sweet Land of Liberty,” featuring Ellis the Elephant.
“I just want to say on behalf of Callista, you should take a bow in a second,” he joked during his campaign remarks at the Moose Lodge, where he had attracted a standing-room-only crowd.
The success of Callista Gingrich’s book, he said, is evidence that “there is such a hunger among parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles for children to learn about America, and they know that patriotism in its traditional form is simply not being taught in the schools.”
In an interview, Gingrich said he is uniquely qualified to be president because of his two decades as a member of Congress, his four years as House speaker, his work outside government and the scale of the challenges the country faces.
“I’m the only one running who worked with Reagan,” he said. “I’m the only person running who worked with [former British prime minister Margaret] Thatcher. I have a pretty good sense of how you solve these things. I’ve actually done it in Washington.”
The scale of his “21st Century Contract With America” is “breathtaking,” he added, “and I’m prepared to spend the next 10 years of my life implementing it.”
The new 26-page contract — which his aides said he typed on his BlackBerry — includes proposals to replace last year’s health-care overhaul with a more “pro-market” version, simplify the tax code to reduce the burden on corporations and individuals, and revamp Social Security to allow young people to save some of their contributions in private accounts.
R.C. Hammond, a Gingrich spokesman, said the campaign has recovered since staff members left en masse in June after complaining that the former House speaker didn’t appear serious about running for president. The campaign has about 15 paid workers, and offices in Florida, Virginia and Georgia. Gingrich will have spent 24 out of 30 days in September on the road stumping and expects to ramp up his efforts, Hammond said.
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