18 GOP Members showed up and made speeches on the floor, most of them weren't here the previous two days, as Republicans urge the rank-and-file to fly back to DC and join in.

The scene just off the floor of the House was of a big story - dozens of reporters jammed into the hallways, with a number of TV cameras.

In the background, all kinds of GOP aides and then a cheering section of tourists who were gathered in the entry way to Statuary Hall, where the House met from 1807 to 1857.

Many of those same tourists were then ushered through the Republican Cloakroom and onto the House floor, something to tell your family about, because not many people get to go on the House or Senate floors - especially tourists.

From my radio booth on the third floor of the House wing, I could hear the cheers of the crowds in the galleries from time to time. It's pretty funny to listen to.

Making things more interesting at their morning news conference on Wednesday was the presence of Newt Gingrich, leader of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and former Speaker of the House.

It took me back to the time when Gingrich was the only Republican in the Georgia delegation, and how unlikely his rise to power actually was.

After the event, Gingrich told me he did see parallels between this energy uprising and his own efforts with the Contract.

"By three to one, the country wants the Congress to pass an energy plan before adjourning," Gingrich said. "That is the kind of coming together of the American people that it will be impossible for the Democrats to avoid."

The thing I always liked about Gingrich is that while much of what he says has the usual amount of partisan spin, he clearly thinks about issues and how to deal with them politically in a different way than your average lawmaker.

One thing that Gingrich said that I completely agree with is that the Democrats invited this uprising by moving to quickly adjourn the House last Friday, instead of letting Republicans make hours and hours of so-called "special orders" speeches, so they could get their energy frustrations off their chests.

As I often have observed, heavy-handed actions by both parties over the years have almost always backfired, as they mainly serve to unite the minority party.

"You suddenly see an entire group of people, who are normally passive, just suddenly say, I'm not going to take this anymore," Gingrich said.

"I think the energy level has shifted between the two parties in the last couple weeks," Gingrich added.

Gingrich tipped his hat to current House GOP Leader John Boehner, who helped organize the infamous Gang of Seven that tortured Democrats after being elected in 1990.

In fact, Boehner is the only one of those still in the Congress.

"I think that he and his staff have played a decisive role in doing this (protest) the right way," Gingrich said, sounding more like a proud father than anything else.

Gingrich though acknowledged that hoping this one issue can spark a GOP turnaround could be asking too much.

"It's an uphill fight," the former Speaker said.

But just as Republicans wrongly ran over Democrats when the GOP was in charge in the House for 12 years, it hasn't taken two years for the Dems to get to much the same point.

And once more, history is repeating itself, as I watch a once-dispirited minority now stand up and start to fight back, in a united fashion.

We'll see if the Democrats come back in September with any different plans to deal with this, or if they try to snuff it out with an Iron Legislative Fist.

I've seen this movie before.