I'm certain that they fear them much less than Santorum, yes. Santorum's rhetoric about criminalizing homosexuality and adultery, sicking the AG on the internet to stop pornography etc are exactly the kind of things to really energize the left. Last I knew, Newt Gingrich wasn't going down that road.
Santorum never said anything about criminalizing homosexuality.
I agree with you that Gingrich is very liberal. I disagree with you that the media knows that.