Role of Gingrich’s wife draws scrutiny

In the implosion’s aftermath, officials close to the Gingrich campaign privately pointed fingers at Callista Gingrich as the source of the tension between her husband and his staff.

They say she exerted enormous influence on the former House speaker, controlling his schedule and encouraging him to disappear on a luxury cruise in the Greek Isles just weeks after he got into the race.

That trip was the final straw for some who pleaded with him not to go.

These officials said Gingrich ceded to his wife’s wishes, which sometimes involved his curtailing time on the campaign trail in such key states as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private campaign business.

As criticism mounted, the candidate defended his wife’s involvement, saying that the two of them “make decisions as a couple.’’

“I think most couples would find that refreshing and not a problem,’’ he said outside his home in McLean, Va., an upscale Washington suburb.

In fact, it may have been no different from other campaigns; friction between political spouses and paid campaign staff is common, with both competing for the candidate’s attention.

But several people involved in the campaign said Callista Gingrich was not the only problem.

Since Gingrich entered the race this spring, fund-raising has been anemic and the combative former congressman has strayed off message repeatedly, most memorably in his NBC “Meet the Press’’ interview just days after entering the race in which he bashed a Republican budget plan that had passed the House as “right-wing social engineering.’’

— Associated Press

Kerry rebuked for blocking Cuba democracy programs WASHINGTON — A private congressional dispute over democracy programs in Cuba went public yesterday, with a House committee chairwoman accusing her Senate counterpart, John F. Kerry, of failing to understand what she calls “the brutal nature of the Havana tyranny.’’