BINGO. The idea of a Newt candidacy was not really about Newt per se, as much as it was about the way a long Newt V Obama campaign would have unfolded, including, but not limited to, the debates. It would have been a national discussion of the Tea Party vision versus the Occupy Wall Street vision.
Now I know some will say "wait, Newt is not really Tea Party" - and that's true. But when Newt was ON, the good Newt, he articulated the limited government vision better than perhaps anyone we've seen in a long while…and for Newt to have won the nomination, this is what he would have had to continue to do, as he did early in Iowa, and then again in SC (instead he got drawn into Mitt's negativity in Florida and it was over).
It would have been clarifying. An electorate contrasting Newt would have been forced to be a little higher information than they are now. Would it have worked? I dunno. It would have been risky, but safe didn't work either. And if Newt was elected, would he have been a disappointment? Probably in some areas.
But Newt would swing the bat. Mitt was out on called strikes...
If MSM had called balls and strikes, they would have Newt-ered Gingrich.