Newt has praised the Tea Party consistently from what I’ve seen. When has he ever disparaged them? The only criticism he’s made of them has been aimed at preventing incidents like Christine O’Donnell and Sharon Angle. He is a strategic guy and has always supported the most conservative Republican who can win in a given district. That means you can’t always pick an ultra-conservative if the district’s not ready for it. The Tea Party did similar strategy with Scott Brown and that “R” has helped us sometimes. Personally I think we should have a balance, strategic moderate candidates when we need to in most liberal districts but take a gamble on a few longshots each cycle.
Scuzzyfuzzy was not an embrace of Tea Party. She was even more detestable than your average RINO. I never said Newt disparaged the Tea Party, by the way. He just isn’t a Tea party candidate based on the last 15 years or so. He is an insider who isn’t well liked because he is a loose cannon. That can be good for us, or as with Scuzzyfuzzy, bad.
He is a grab bag candidate.