Republican National Convention: Reporter’s notebook, Day 3

A roundup from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland:

GINGRICH'S PREFERRED JOB: Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was on GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's short list of possible running mates, told Iowans on Wednesday he would like to be chief planner in a Trump administration to dramatically revamp the federal government.

The Georgia Republican said he would even do the job for free.

'What I'd like to do is I'd like to take the entire federal government and methodically focus department by department on how we totally overhaul the entire system,” Gingrich told Iowa delegates at the Republican National Convention. He said he envisions Trump giving him the power to review any federal agency and report back on how to make changes.

Gingrich made the comments abroad an excursion boat before the Iowans took in a cruise on Lake Erie.

Gingrich said Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, as Trump's running mate, will 'be very effective in pulling the party back together.”

Gingrich said he was at a point in his life where he is 'a free agent” and didn't think it would be a good idea to have 'a two-pirate ticket” like a Trump-Gingrich team.

The former speaker said Republicans are poised to have 'an extraordinary year” with Democrats 'on the verge of nominating the most corrupt person ever to be nominated for president by either party.”

On the flip side, he said, Republicans 'have nominated somebody who is totally outside any plausible prediction.”

DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN ON KING, VILSACK: U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat and black woman from Ohio, participated Wednesday in a teleconference with Iowa reporters over comments made by U.S. Rep. Steve King this week at the convention.

Beatty also discussed the possibility that former Iowa governor and current U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack could be named Hillary Clinton's running mate, and whether she is bothered by a 2010 incident in which Vilsack asked a black woman who worked for the USDA to resign - only to later apologize and offer the woman her job back.

Vilsack had asked the woman to resign after a video surfaced showing her saying she did not do everything she could to help a white farmer. When it became apparent the woman's comments were taken out of context, Vilsack apologized and offered her the opportunity to return. She declined.

Beatty, when asked about the incident, said she would be able to support Vilsack if he is selected by Clinton.

'He apologized. That goes a long way with me,” Beatty said. 'He's visited my district this past year. I had an opportunity to sit down with him in a diverse group of individuals talking about how we could help communities with different agricultural food programs in minority districts.”

Beaty was not so forgiving of King, who during a television interview said white people and Western civilization have made more contributions to the world than 'any other subgroup of people,” a designator King declined to clarify.

'Steve King insinuated that white people have contributed more to the history of America,” Beatty said. 'I say back to him, maybe I need to give him a history lesson.”