Newt a clear-voiced conservative? Maybe he’s a better spoken than Romney. He’s also prone to say stupider and Frazier things occasionally. As far as ideology goes, between him and Romney it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Newt was part of the conservative movement since the 1970’s. In deeds he has demonstrated his conservatism. He cut spending and balanced budgets, eliminated committees in the House, limited the terms of committee chairmen and the speakership (his own office), he cut congressional staffs by a third and forced Bob Dole to do the same, he kept passing welfare reform till it was signed, he passed tax cuts through the House, he let the ICC expire (the first time an agency ever went away), he ignored seniority and put conservatives in charge of committees (unlike Boehner, who did the opposite), he wasn’t afraid of shutting down the government (also unlike Boehner). This is just a sampling. In actual deeds, Gingrich is a conservative.
Romney on the other hand, raised taxes and fees here in MA, pushed through Romneycare, was pro-choice then pro-life, loved mandates, refused to associate himself with conservative groups. In 1994, a conservative wave year when Bill Weld was re-elected with 70% of the vote, Romney lost to Ted Kennedy. Had Romney campaigned with Weld, and been not so mushy moderate, he could have beaten Kennedy.
This is all water under the bride, of course. But I’ll take Gingrich’s actions over Romney’s words any day of the week.