Gingrich: Boehner 'avoiding my mistakes'

Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio) received high marks Sunday from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said that, so far, Boehner is "avoiding most of my mistakes." 

Gingrich was swept in as Speaker after the Republican wave of 1994 put the GOP back in the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years. 

On "Fox News Sunday," Gingrich said Boehner has avoided the mistakes he made during the transition period in 1993. 

"I was too aggressive in public relations," he said. "I was too willing to lead with my chin in debating with the president, which I thought was essential to fill a vacuum at the time."

Gingrich said it's not the role Boehner needs to fill as House Speaker .

"I think what Boehner should do is decide what the voters who led to a landslide, the biggest shift in House power since 1948 — what is it they really want? What is it he owes them as a legitimate part of a free society? And he ought to calmly and methodically get that done," Gingrich said. 

The Georgia Republican, who also said he's leaning toward a run for president in 2012, said the lame-duck session is proof that Democrats and President Obama still haven't accepted the message sent by voters in November. 

"He just suffered a stunning defeat, and yet he's behaving as though nothing has changed," Gingrich said. "Look what Reid's trying to do in the Senate. It's the same baloney."