Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) urged CPAC-goers on Saturday to make the GOP a party of big ideas rather than just fighting against President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

But he still took a number of potshots at the president, whom he sarcastically "defended" for going to Key Largo, Fla., this weekend while the crisis continues in Ukraine. Gingrich said Obama had already been ineffective all week in Washington.

"I believe he can be as ineffective in Key Largo as he was in the White House," he said, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

Gingrich also joked that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be a continuation of her husband Bill Clinton's time in the White House.

"If we spend the next three years being primarily anti-Hillary, we will virtually guarantee her election as the first Democrat in almost 70 years to hold the White House for a third term," he joked. "It's a fact," he added when the audience laughed.

The former speaker did discuss his own ideas, saying the GOP should focus on education reform and ensuring smartphone apps aren't over-regulated. He predicted that if the GOP can convince Americans that it will provide them a better future, the party could be dominant.