First of all if you understood the times you would have understood that the right was being excoriated for the perception that they cared nothing about the environment. Gingrich, by his own statement, was trying to nullify that perception so he could get other things accomplished. If those on the right are not allowed to use some of the tactics used by the left we will lose on a perpetual basis. I think Newt was brilliant in doing that for what he was trying to accomplish. I’m not sure the conservative voter is smart enough to follow on that but we can’t work much with stupid anyway.
Second, he has already stated that the visual of that was misconstrued and was, in hindsight, a poor choice of tactic. I would add that it was only a poor tactic because of the naiveté of the conservative voter.
I don’t think anyone even knew who Nancy Pelosi was in 2007 when that ad was done. I think she had just recently been elected Speaker of the House after the Democrats took control in 2007 for the first time in almost 15 yeas. Certainly most of the things she is currently excoriated for by conservatives had not occured yet. She was just busy basking in the whole first female Speaker of the House limelight at that time.