Newt Gingrich, on the rise, says, ‘Hopefully, I’m going to be more disciplined’

For months, Newt Gingrich has had a front-row seat from which to observe what happens when a Republican presidential candidate emerges from the pack to be touted as the next great insurgent hope and the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.

“This is actually the point where other people have faltered,” Gingrich said in an interview Wednesday.

The former House speaker is rising in the polls. But whether he will become an actual threat to Romney, or just another fleeting phenom, will depend largely on two things: Gingrich’s ability to keep in check the impulses that have been his undoing in the past, and how well he deals with the criticism and scrutiny that go with being a real contender.

“Newt has to remain uncommonly disciplined — totally focused, no hissy fits — and continue to be the adult that he has been during the election season so far,” said Ken Duberstein, a former chief of staff in the Reagan White House and a friend of Gingrich’s for more than three decades.

Many of those who know Gingrich are doubtful he will be able to do that. “The worst in Newt comes out when he is doing well,” said a Republican former House colleague, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could be frank.

Gingrich allowed that self-control has not exactly been his strong suit in the past.

“That’s true,” said the man who once accused President Obama of having a “Kenyan, anti-colonial” worldview. “Hopefully, I’m going to be more disciplined.”

But he insisted: “I’m much more relaxed and more mature than I was 12 years ago. I have had 12 years to rest and to think and to run small businesses.”

Huh? I was under the impression that the failure against Clinton, the cheating and divorces, the endorsement of Dede Scuzzofava, and the 'past' support for individual mandate and "climate change" were matters of historical fact.

In that case, you might want to do some investigating of your own, instead of just repeating what people are telling you. Several of the major knocks on Gingrich are total BS.

>> So he never cheated on his wife and Pelosi photo-shopped him into that climate change ad? Good to know. <<

Indeed. And 'bots for other candidates on FR have informed us that "anti-Trump haters" forced him to write a book endorsing abortion, gun control, universal health care, etc.; and "reconstruction" that ended in 1876 forced Rick Perry to endorse Al Gore 112 years later in 1988.

Okay sure.

RE his marriages I “think I know” that his current wife was his mistress during his second marriage and that his second wife was his mistress during his first marriage (to his former HS teacher, mad pimp points for that!). To be clear I don’t give a flying damn about his personal life but this doesn’t help his electabilty.

As for the ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154

Speaks for itself. Pretty good photoshop job by the democrats huh? Or are you telling me that Gore and Pelosi had him at gunpoint?

And now he’s telling us we need to be “compassionate” vis a vis illegals. Swell guy, such a big heart.

You say YOU "don't give a damn." So who does? The made up story about the wife on her death bed was always the killer as far as most people were concerned. It's the one I always hear people bring up. Debunking that one is actually going to score him some points, and you're going to have to explain to me why something that doesn't bother you personally is going to have a major effect on the electorate when the opponent is Barak Obama, and not some family first conservative like Michell Bachman, or Rick Santorum. You're just repeating platitudes here.

Speaks for itself. Pretty good photoshop job by the democrats huh? Or are you telling me that Gore and Pelosi had him at gunpoint?

No, the ad does not speak for itself. What does Gingrich say in the ad that you find objectionable? Does he call for government regulations on global warming? No. Another look at Kyoto? No. Carbon credits? No. An end to fossil fuels? No. Sparking Innovation? Yeah, but what's wrong with that?

Is it that he is actually playing nice with Nancy Pelosi, and not strangling her? Sure. I can see how that might piss some conservatives off. But you need to remember that outside of places like FR, Gingrich's reputation is as the ultimate bad boy conservative, who will never play nice with liberals. Should he win the nomination, I say adds like this were a brilliant move when it comes to softening his image with independents.

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