I think his magical come-from-behind victory in Iowa is still giving him a false sense of confidence that he can repeat that. His argument that he is the only one who won in a state that wasn’t adjacent to his home state is a fairly logical one which may also be convincing him he’s right, even though the sheer reality that the upcoming states are less socially conservative than SC flies in the face of that theory.
I think he’s a good man but he personifies the Peter Principle. He’s best behind the scenes, doing the grunt work. He’s laid out the social conservative platform well.
As much as we want to believe there was some time in America where social conservative issues were believed by everybody is a lie. Those who didn’t like them were smart enough to not voice their opposition. That has slowly changed. Newt is smart to not make it a primary plank. But once he’s in office I suspect Newt’s real thoughts will become a reality that the left won’t like much.