Gingrich begs Iowans' help

CEDAR RAPIDS — Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Thursday pleaded with a group of Linn County Republicans to help him revive a campaign that he said has been “savaged” by the media, so he could perform his own rescue mission — saving business from “centralized bureaucratic control.”

“You have a government whose attitude towards business is, at best, destructive. You have policies of regulatory overkill. You have threats of the cost of health care,” Gingrich warned a 50-person audience at the Cedar Rapids Country Club that included company presidents and entrepreneurs.