Just to get it out of the way:
Newt=”Too much baggage.”
/sarc
Now, with that canned crtitique dispense with here on the “conservative forum” Free Republic, let’s take a rational moment to agree that Newt (a) has a voice, (b) defended Sarah Palin, (c) went after Rahm Emanual’s nutcase brother, and (d) adds his decades-long personal critique of “government panels”.
Count the number of alleged and self-professed national “conservatives” standing up in the above manner.
Don’t even bother to count the “other Republican leaders,” of which there seem to be perhaps 1 or 2 of the 218 on Capitol Hill.
There can be a difference between giving Newt his props for being one of the Republicans’ brightest, most articulate and sometimes most forceful defender and promoter of ideas—e.g., applause and appreciation all around for Newt today—and thinking therefore that the baggage of his career and personal choices must therefore be sufficiently small to back him as a presidential candidate.
Marital infidelity was Newt's downfall. He will never be president for that reason. Sorry but that's a fact.