[Valin]

I agree Newt has an ego,

Nothing wrong with that. You need an ego, and a large one to think you have "The Answer" and are willing to put your ideas out there for everyone to see.
Anyone who thinks a politican (any politican) doesn't have a well developed ego, I got a bridge I can let them have real cheap.

[OESY]

I agree with that. Ego can well be the driving force, along with a profound sense of history in Newt's case, that provides the motivation to persist.

Gingrich, you may recall, was found to have used his excellent nonpartisan video series for party-building and was levied a fine of $300,000. The special investigator was Jim Cole, roommate to the highly partisan and politically ambitious Eric Holden, Clinton's deputy attorney general.

(Compare and contrast that to Sandy Berger's penalties for stealing and destroying national security documents and lying about what he did, while continuing to refuse to disclose his reasons -- to the detriment of the findings and credibility of the 9/11 Commission investigation.)

Unfortunately for Newt, House freshmen such as David McIntosh, Steve Largent and Susan Molinari among others lacked the backbone to stand-up for Newt, thus allowing Dems and the MSM to demonize him.

The Big Question: Will conservatives again lack the spine to support Tom DeLay? The New York Times hopes so, if you can believe Maureen Dowd's column today.