MAN ABOUT TOWN. On the heels of predicting a second Holocaust, Newt Gingrich called a press breakfast to, among other self-promotions, predict GOP failure in 2008, Dan Balz reports at the Post. "None of the Republicans have figured out how to get a routine, repetitive explanation of the future that breaks out of the current situation and that's their primary challenge," Gingrich said. The former speaker also compared President Bush to Jacques Chirac and said what American conservatives need for an electoral victory in 2008 is a Nicholas Sarkozy candidate. While a politician with the charisma and intellect of Sarkozy would no doubt be a boon to the Republican Party, it's ridiculous to suggest that Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement had been as discredited as today's GOP. Though Chirac was personally unpopular, his rival Sarkozy was, throughout Chirac's presidency, lauded as a potential savior of both his party and the Republic. Dissatisfied Republicans have no similar standard-bearer. If Gingrich fancies himself such a figure, he's more self-deluded than I thought. --Dana Goldstein
