Of course, Gingrich generally relishes the attention. He grows frustrated, however, when his core message in the late summer of 1998 becomes overwhelmed by events. Gingrich, nonetheless, plugs away as a campaigner. In some 370 events in 153 cities and 48 states throughout 1998, he appears on behalf of GOP incumbents and challengers, generating local media attention, and, of course, campaign cash. The speaker moves seamlessly among minivans, private jets, and a helicopter or two.
Pack presents plenty of Americana along the way.
At one point, Gingrich tells Lee Terry, a Republican House nominee from Nebraska, that he started his morning in Tampa, then departed for events in Michigan and Indiana, landed in Nebraska, and plans to head for Albuquerque before calling it a day. Pack shows Gingrich stumping for Terry in Omaha. After Gingrich urges voters to support the young candidate, Terry practically walks among the clouds. Later on, when Gingrich is campaigning just before the election in his own Georgia district, Pack catches him taking a cat nap in the back of a British double-decker bus. Gingrich wakes up to a nightmare.