Gingrich has a compulsion to be the be the smartest guy in the room, thus this pathologically self-destructive pose. The best place for him is academia where he can do this without consequences to the nation.
I respectfully disagree.
Newt is not as smart as many think and he is a Politician (I use that word as an epithet). If he was in any setting where he could influence students they would end up with the same, wishy-washy, "triangulating" philosophy as Newt.