Trouble is a "firm core" for many conservatives seem to mean "firmly hating anyone with a D after their name." Newt showed that he could work with Bill Clinton for the good of the country as a whole without compromising his core principles. Obsessing over terms like "swiftboating" is totally asinine, especially since a reporter brought up that term to Newt, Newt didn't bring it up. The nitpicky stuff people like you pin on Newt is absolutely beyond the pale. Your goal is not to achieve conservative goals in the government, your goal is to nitpick people for being "less conservative" than you so you can feel smug and superior.
To say that Newt does not have core principles despite the massive power he had and the extremely conservative things he got passed is just ludicrous. Look at any Republicans in the Congress since the '90s and tell me that they stuck their neck out and went out on a limb for conservatives more than Newt did.
Calling Newt "anti-capitalism" is simply a strawman. He solely criticized Romney's use of government largesse and accounting tricks to make profits on the backs of other people, all of which has been explained in this thread. You need to explain why you believe Romney's business practices show the right kind of leadership we need in the White House. They are the equivalent of someone taking out a mortgage they can't afford and then expecting the government to bail them out and let them stay in their house.
BTW, you’ll appreciate these posts, which thoroughly address the “Newt supported Dede Scozzafava” crack, as well as the Nancy Pelosi couch.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2833086/posts?page=67#67
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2830232/posts?page=27#27
All the squabbling on this thread about who should drop out when you all know very well that at least as far as SC goes, no one will drop out (not counting Huntsman, who doesn’t count anyway). Now FL is i different subject. Depending on the results in SC, there is the possibility that the lowest man on the totem pole (probably Perry), might drop out. I doubt that Santorum or Gingrich would drop out however. We’ll know the answer in 6 more days.