Remember that Newt turned out not to be the best man for that job.
When you put your strongest, most articulate, ablest debater and issues man in the Speakership, you muzzle him. As Newt pointed out at the time, the Speaker needs to exercise a completely different skill set, to put together majorities and get projects done.
Someone like Newt Gingrich or Allen West, a strong moral leader with clear ideas that we need to articulate, would be better in the whip's job: That is a very high-profile leadership post and a good pulpit from which to articulate issues, and it does not require the whip to muffle his message, be "reasonable", or fade issues that are not yet mature, viz., are not ready for action yet.
Either way, we need him in the best position possible to do the most effective offense when the situation calls for it and defense when the situation calls for it.
What we have now is tenuous at best and does not inspire confidence...