From Roll Call ($):

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) predicted Wednesday during the fourth day of Republican protests at the Capitol that Democrats would lose a potential government shutdown fight over offshore oil drilling.

The offshore drilling ban expires Sept. 30, and some conservatives have urged President Bush to threaten to veto any bill that extends it, including a routine stopgap spending bill keeping the government open.

“Are they really prepared to close the government in order to stop drilling?” Gingrich asked of Democrats. “I think the public would think they’re insane. ... I don’t see how the Democrats could possibly sustain a suicidal strategy like that.”