I am not surprised and I’ll tell you why: most of Newt’s liberal dalliances - and yes he’s had them - are in books and in editorials and PSA’s and so on. When it comes down to actual governance, he’s been - as the article says - very good (though not great).
I think people also remember that he did not maximize the Contract with America opportunity - so with all of that, they tend to also forget that he did do some great things while Clinton was President and did vote right for the most part while in congress.
Not to say we should ignore the liberal dalliances - which are more from his mindset of being a government tinkerer - than anything else - but keep it in perspective.
Or another way to look at it is that his liberal dalliances have come in the last 13 years, his conservative record was before that.
I’ve watched good, bedrock conservatives go soft over the years and I’ve always been struck by the fact that it usually happens when those conservatives start to fall prey to the media, and usually after being assaulted by the media.
For some strange reason, they think the media will “like” them if they soften their speech or positions, “just a little” at first, or backtrack “just a little” on a tiny and even an insignificant issue.
Once a conservative shows that weakness, s/he is almost a goner.
I can give you Eric Cantor for one example. He and his wife like to make the Beltway cocktail scene, but as little as 4 years ago, he was a fighter and even mentioned as McCain’s VP. Now he’s one of the “deal makers” and more establishment than fighter. He showed weakness during several TV interviews with the “media.”
A more recent example is Herman Cain and his interview with Bob Sheiffer who laid into him for the you-tube ad by Cain’s campaign manager smoking a cig. Sheiffer berated Cain for the ad showing him smiling at the end of the ad, because his manager was smoking! Oh the horrors! Cain and Sheiffer are cancer survivors and what would children think!
Sheiffer forced Cain into denouncing the ad (so to speak) and to what avail? Scheiffer had Cain on the defense about a stupid ad!!
I’ve gone off track a bit, but my point is that I think Gingrich will be A-OK so long as the media and demonic-rats hate him and he has both to fight.
The worry will come if he gets into the position of trying to court the demonic-rats and the media.