Clinton aides pretty grumpy about Gingrich taking credit for 90s success

“Newt Gingrich running on President Clinton’s record is like the coal delivery man stealing Santa’s sleigh,” said Joe Andrew, a former Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999 to 2001…

Longtime Clinton adviser James Carville was equally blunt and equally apoplectic about the claims of Gingrich, who was once lampooned on the cover of the New York Daily News as a “crybaby” for his response to a perceived Clinton snub.

“The idea that he had anything to do with balancing the budget is ludicrous,” he said, accusing Gingrich of doing little other than creating partisan obstructions at the time. “There’s so many people claiming paternity here. There’s only one that passes the DNA test and that’s the president.”

“Newt Gingrich trying to claim credit for the Clinton economy is like Johnny Ringo claiming credit for the gunfight at the OK Corral” was the take of former Clinton adviser Paul Begala. “He was involved in it — just on the losing side. Newt opposed President Clinton’s economic plan with all the bombast, bitterness and bloviating for which he’s famous. … What’s next? Is Newt going to claim credit for President Clinton’s weight loss?”