Without Gingrich, it’s arguable there would have been no Tea Party. Without Gingrich, the Fox News style of base-only messaging wouldn’t have become the defining style of the conservative caucus in the House. Gingrich helped usher in a broad, Republican-leaning fundraising establishment on K Street and helped popularize and professionalize a constellation of think tanks, associations, and consultants who extended the Republican gains of 1994.
