Conservatism is about principles, and they do not change just for political expediancy. Newt has no core principles, he’d back the individual mandate tomorrow if he thought it would be advantageous in some respect (like dumping the rest ObamaCare- we could hope).
He is totally unreliable as a small government conservative.
At this point, unless a real conservative surges, I am hoping for a floor fight at the convention with someone like DeMint throwing their hats in the ring on the second ballot.
Newt loves the game of politics. He’s held so many positions it’s impossible to believe that any of his statements are rooted in a belief system or emanate from core values — and like the weather (or wives), wait a few days (years) and it will change.