I think the great pause is Newt has shown the Republican base that initially doubted his being competitive as he is going to be very competitive, and the confidence in him has grown exponentially in the Republican base, but the elite don’t have that confidence and would rather side with Romney, their safe bet.
Yep, assuming "safe bet" means they are indifferent about winning the presidency, as long as most of them retain their congressional seats of power.
They'd rather lose with Romney than win with Gingrich. They hold a grudge, they HATE the TEA Party with a passion. They will not go down without a fight, and in this battle, the media is firmly in their camp.