http://thehill.com/video/house/275555-gingrich-warns-boehner-could-have-disaster-on-his-hands

I can’t believe I actually am going to say this, but Newt Gingrich may be emerging as a sort of Republican gray eminence.

The former speaker of the House is urging the current speaker of the House, John Boehner, to think more strategically. The consequence would be that he’ll face many leadership crises as he commences his second term as the Man of the House.

Speaker Boehner, listen to former Speaker Gingrich. He knows a thing or two about leadership crises. Gingrich stormed to the speakership in the wake of the historic 1994 Contract With America election that saw both congressional chambers flip from Democratic to Republican control. He led the GOP down a terrible path that resulted in a brief, but catastrophic shutdown of the government over a budget fight with the Clinton administration. He fought with President Clinton over budget matters, worked with him on spending and tax reforms that produced a balanced budget … and then ran into some serious personal problems that led eventually to his decision to leave the House.

Still, Gingrich speaks with knowledge about some of the current problems plaguing Boehner, starting with restiveness within his own House GOP caucus. Some conservatives don’t like his style. He’s signaling a big fight soon over the debt limit, which President Obama has said will not be negotiated.

Gingrich appears to be suggesting that the debt-limit fight is a loser for Republicans, much as their recent shellacking in the negotiations over the budget deal hammered out by Senate Republicans and Vice President Biden.

If I were Speaker Boehner, I’d listen carefully to the wisdom of his elders.