Gingrich To Powell: Don’t Do It Speaker Says An Independent Presidency Would Be ‘A Disaster For This Country’

House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged retired Gen. Colin Powell to give up any idea of an independent candidacy, saying Sunday that having a president outside the current party system is “a joke” that could lead to disaster.

Powell, in his new autobiography, says he is comfortable with neither party and the time may be ripe for the rise of a third party to represent the political center in America. He makes no commitment to lead such a party.

Gingrich, in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” strongly urged him against that course. “I think it’s frankly in the long run a joke,” he said. “This country is a party country. … There is no magic independence of people who are just able to stand up and magically produce a government.”

An independent presidency would be “a disaster for this country,” he said.

If Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ran as a Republican, he would immediately become the chief rival to GOP front-runner Sen. Bob Dole, Gingrich said.

Gingrich, like Powell, says he will make no announcement of his own presidential intentions until the end of the year. He has stated that he would take a pass if Powell were to run as a Republican, but in any case is leaning against entering the race.

“But I think that there is frankly just enough of a desire for somebody who is aggressive and articulate and willing to lay out boldly where we need to go that I can’t quite close the door at this stage,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Boston Herald/WCVB-TV poll released Sunday in Boston found that nearly 75 of New Hampshire Republican voters would consider an independent third-party candidate over a Republican in a primary vote and 53 percent said Powell should run.

Twenty-three percent said Powell should stay out of the race and 24 percent had no opinion.

The poll also showed that Dole continues to outpace his rivals. Dole was the first choice of 38 percent of voters surveyed, followed by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan with 9 percent.

Gingrich said it’s inevitable for there to be some sniping among the declared GOP nominees, but it’s important they make sure their political battles don’t disrupt the Republican agenda on tax cuts, and welfare and Medicare reform.

“If we allow ourselves to get pulled apart in the next 30 or 40 days, we’re going to look like idiots and frankly, we’re not going to elect anybody next year to the presidency and we might lose the House and Senate,” he said.

Gingrich also said the Medicare reform package to be announced by House Republicans this week would include a proposal to apply means-testing to couples earning more than $125,000.