I'm supporting Newt because he's the only viable candidate at this point, IMHO, and that's it. It's unfortunate, again, that we're forced into this position, but the community needs to rally behind someone at this late stage. Obama cannot win another term, and I don't see another viable option for us.
Mark my words -- Newt has the intellect and ego to do something really, really bad, and think that he can get away with it. When that happens it won't matter if anyone in the FR community admits they were wrong, because the conservative party -- and maybe the whole country -- will suffer for his actions.
I fear Obama has already won it. Both Romney and Gingrich carry so much baggage that the liberals will have a festive picnic on the contents. And if conservatives like us already know this, how much more is unknown—waiting to be delivered to the public by the ever-faithful media?
Perhaps you don't get what's happening here. If all we were looking to do is rally around a viable candidate, we'd all be Mittbots by now.
No, the vast majority of Freepers (and others) have inspected the prospective crop on hand, and have rightfully determined that of them all, Newt Gingrich scores highest in all of the most important categories.
I personally began to gravitate toward Newt after Cain was run off. At that point in the race, there wasn't anything close to a guarantee that he'd do as well as he is right now, but upon inspection, he came closest to fitting the bill for what I need and want in my next president.
We can bemoan the fact that we don't have a perfect champion in the race, but thank God we have a real fighter, who believes in the Founders' vision, and has the requisite experience and skills to dismantle much of the Socialist leviathan that's dragging us down.