CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. -- As calls for Newt Gingrich to exit the Republican presidential race persisted Thursday, Gingrich wrapped up a pass through suburban Chicago, painting himself as a "visionary" and the only candidate bold enough to have "big ideas."
"I am going to fine-tune my message to say that ‘without vision the people perish,' " Gingrich said Thursday, quoting Scripture while touring a manufacturing plant here. Gingrich's trip to Illinois was essentially a layover for the campaign before heading to Louisiana, which has a primary more than a week away.
The former U.S. House speaker spent his roughly 24-hour Illinois visit pitching his vision for Social Security savings plans, domestic energy policies that could help pay off the national debt, medical advances for Alzheimer's disease and his $2.50 gas plan.
Team Gingrich sported a slimmer staff than usual in Illinois, an indication that the campaign isn't expecting a big win here. And indeed, the latest polls indicate that the race in Illinois will be between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll showed Gingrich at 12 percent support in the state, compared with 35 percent for Romney and 31 percent for Santorum.
Gingrich is hanging his latest hopes on the March 24 primary in Louisiana, where the former Georgia congressman is expected to drive some conservatives away from Santorum. He left Thursday night for the Bayou State, making room for his opponents, who are expected to campaign in Illinois this weekend.
"Louisiana is sort of halftime," Gingrich said. "I want to see if we can't reset this race around really big ideas and really big solutions and insist the American people have the chance to vote for a dramatically different future."
During speeches here, Gingrich invoked such presidents as Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, bemoaning to a high school audience Thursday that Kennedy's vision for space exploration was lauded while his dream of moon colonization was lampooned.
"We have to go back to being an America that has big dreams and then liberates the American people to chase their dreams," he told the crowd of several hundred.
Gingrich also seized an opportunity Thursday to address President Barack Obama's indirect criticism of his $2.50 gas plan. Earlier in the day Obama spoke at a Maryland college about high gas prices as a campaign tool.
“And every time prices start to go up -- especially in an election year -- politicians dust off their three-point plans for $2 gas. I guess this year they decided, ‘we're going to make it $2.50,' ” Obama said. “... There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. There’s no silver bullet. Anybody who tells you otherwise isn’t really looking for a solution -- they’re trying to ride the political wave of the moment.”
Gingrich -- who has campaigned heavily on domestic drilling for oil -- criticized the president’s energy policy as anti-American.
“Barack Obama is for Saudi oil and against American oil. Barack Obama is for jobs in Saudi Arabia and against jobs in the United States," Gingrich said.
That idea gained traction with voters such as Cendy Luto, a teacher from Crystal Lake who listened to Gingrich on Thursday afternoon.
Luto, who said she's already cast a vote for Gingrich, said she believes he could accomplish his domestic energy plan if elected.
"He can because he stands behind what he says," she said. "He's a man of integrity."
About the Author
