Newt's style is much more pedantic, as befits a professor. What he most lacks is Church's focus. Newt is all over the place, with opinions about everything, but he is far from being a polymath, more the dilettante. The real question is: does he have Churchill's ability to stay the course on the great issues confronting the country?
Lincoln had that ability. He focused on the war and left the secondary matters to Seward, Chase, and the Republican Congress. One impression I got from Palin--as governor--is that she had that ability. She had strength of will. As president, she might have brought the same focus. But as a genuine outsider, with pedigree or polish, she could never win over the Establishmentarians. Lincoln did, at least enough. We forget how much he owed to Horace Greeley. Greeley not only polished his debates with Douglas --the ones we read today were redacted by Greeley's paper-- but brought him East to give the Cooper's Union speech which was wildly applauded by the elite audience there.
Palin is not capable of finely crafted speeches. Lincoln had a love and a gift for the language that Palin lacks. But, as Elizabeth I, said on a famous occasion, She might have the heart of a woman, but she has the stomach of a king. Does New have the stomach? I don't mean the self-confidence, but the courage to go against elite opinion when it matters. Neither Bush really had that. Reagan did.
I have no question that he has the stomach to do whatever it is he determines to do.
I think the question is: does he have the gut instinct to determine what it is that conservatism demands him to do?
Bush, for example, went against elite opinion by trying every which way to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including in 2005 introducing legislation to strengthen regulation. This would have gone a long way toward helping to minimize the housing crash.
The Dems fought Bush's effort tooth and nail -- and so did Newt Gingrich, the man who took millions of taxpayer dollars in consulting fees from Freddie Mac.
I find that inexplicable and politically unforgivable.
It doesn't matter how much courage a person has if he isn't being courageous about doing the right (conservative) things.
Oh, and I disagree with you here. She has given some of the most authentically inspirational speeches in recent political history. And that's my definition of "finely crafted"!