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1Vir SPeaker
How Ameri
e can
a
reacting Ne ti w can t Gi j n e gri w s ch's
rise to political power?

The lieWS

•

Elll fifteen years ago, Orrin Skolnick
walked into the cramped Washing-
ton, D.C., office of a young and rela-
tively unknown Georgia congressman.
The Jewish pharmacist had come
with two colleagues to lobby their
state's representatives on health-care
matters. Newt Gingrich was near the
end of their list.
"Everyone else had a nice, orderly congressional of-
fice," Mr. Skolnick recalled. "His was like a helter-skel-
ter of activity. Everything was moving and everything
was happening."
Mr. Skolnick and his two colleagues spoke for about
12 minutes to Mr. Gingrich. "Before I left, he knew the
issues and the doctrines of government that they fit into.
I walked out of that office in awe. I said, 'This is a man
who is going places and I need to keep in contact with
him.' "
Mr. Gingrich, 51, has certainly gone somewhere. And

NEIL RUBIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

earlier this month it was Mr. Skolnick who arranged for
the politician to speak at Congregation Etz Chaim in
Marietta, Ga., which is literally within sight of the con-
gressman's district office.
That appearance is analogous to how many Jews view
the brash Georgia politician. Before the talk, one man
said to a friend, "This should be interesting." The re-
sponse: "Interesting's not the word. This guy's a nut."
One hour later, both were among the 400 people who
stood to applaud the man who had defended Israel, said
that religion indeed does have a place in America and
stressed a need to debate the nation's issues. That's not
to say that most Jews become Newt Gingrich fans after
hearing him speak. They are, however, impressed with
his intellect, oratorical skills and topic-tailored addresses.

Center of Power

Today, Mr. Gingrich, the Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives, is arguably the most influential politi-
cian in America, forcing President Bill Clinton to rede-

fine his ruling Democratic Party's agenda.
Although he seemingly has come from nowhere, Mr.
Gingrich has been planning his revolution for decades.
And more than one political observer has expressed that
he seems well-positioned for what could be his ultimate
goal: the presidency of the United States.
In his 17 years in Congress, during which he gained
a reputation as a maniacly partisan Republican, the
Pennsylvania native has stridently built a formidable
political base, using his seemingly vast energies and abil-
ities to bring a new generation of Republican conserv-
atives to office.
He can speak with bombacity and recklessness. But
he can also detect a shift in Washington's political winds
long before they send a ripple through the reflecting pond
between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memo-
rial.
Many know of Mr. Gingrich for his controversial book
deal and failure to disclose contributors to his political
action committee. Then there are the flamboyant re-