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In the midst of a book tour, former speaker of the House and 2012 presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich sat down with the "Today" show Matt Lauer to discuss his thoughts on the resignation of David Petraeus, the recent election, and the impending "fiscal cliff."

Gingrich was most animated when Lauer grilled him about the outcome of the election. In the weeks leading up to the poll, Gingrich had told Fox News that he expected an easy victory for Mitt Romney.

“My personal guess is you'll see a Romney landslide, 53 percent-plus ... in the popular vote, 300 electoral votes-plus," he predicted.

In front of Lauer though, Gingrich admitted he would have been “dumbfounded” three weeks ago if you told him Mitt Romney would receive fewer votes than John McCain.

Gingrich also praised the President for winning an extraordinary victory, and urged Republicans going forward to show him respect by analyzing what Obama learned about the American people to win their vote.

"I was wrong last week, as was virtually every major Republican analyst. And so, you have to stop and say to yourself, 'If I was that far off, what do I need to learn to better understand America.'"

Gingrich struck a similar chord in a Politico Op-Ed that hit the web today. In it, he concedes that the Republican party misjudged many characteristics of this year's election, though he doesn't feel there should be panic about the future of the GOP.

“For the conservative movement and the Republican Party to succeed in the future (and while they are not identical the two are inextricably bound together) we will have to learn the lessons of 2012,” he said in the Op-Ed.

Like with Obama, Gingrich spoke highly of ousted C.I.A. head David Petraeus, who, despite Petraeus's personal transgressions, Gingrich feels is still a great American patriot. In dealing with the impending "fiscal cliff," President Barack Obama, Gingrich told Lauer, should be able to hammer out an agreement with congressional Republicans if he comes to the bargaining table “sincere and willing to negotiate.”

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