Gingrich Wants to Change the Tone

"Becoming the Party of Yes." That's the title of Newt Gingrich's speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

Describing the speech, Gingrich said by way of a spokesman that "[t]o win in 2010 and 2012, it's not enough to say no to the radical agenda of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Tonight's speech will explain why real leadership requires Republicans to offer a compelling vision of safety, prosperity, and freedom that stands in vivid contrast to Obama's secular, socialist, machine now running Washington."

Americans, he will say, need to know that Republicans can say yes.

The implicit criticism here is that the party risks its political advantages if it becomes defined by angry oppositional rhetoric. Indeed, the GOP's political strategy right now is simple: deny Democrats cooperation, and use that lack of cooperation to de-legitimize whatever they DO do.