[Drango]

I like Newt’s ideology. A lot.

His personal life is a shambles.

[Verginius Rufus]

Newt has a lot of good ideas but he would keep wandering off the reservation--and his past conduct would offer the other side a lot of material. Romney needs to pick a conservative who could plausibly be a future Presidential nominee.

In the later primaries, Santorum got many more votes than Gingrich, so if Romney's main concern was to reassure conservatives, Santorum would be a better bet. Not that I think there is much chance of Santorum being chosen...there are other candidates who can reassure conservatives plus win independents and help win their own state (Santorum doesn't put his own state firmly in the Republican column).