Free Republic

Has it really come to this? Newt Gingrich as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney? That's what many in the punditocracy have proclaimed as the former speaker of the House has surged recently in the polls. Yet a look at his record reveals that Newt is hardly the "anti-Mitt" -- he's Mitt Romney with more baggage and bolder hand gestures. Every Gingrich profile proclaims that he's a dazzling "ideas man," a "one-man think tank." It seems that, if you clamor long enough about "big ideas," people become convinced you actually have them. But most of Gingrich's policy ideas over the...

On issues such as Social Security, taxes and environmental regulation, the Newt Gingrich of the 1980s and 1990s is proving to be a problem for the 2012 presidential hopeful, who promises to fundamentally transform Washington. From appearing in a television ad advocating global-warming awareness with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to backing the 1986 amnesty for illegal immigrants to his early support for an individual mandate requiring Americans to purchase health insurance, Mr. Gingrich’s past is sprinkled with positions that cause some conservatives heartburn. Mr. Gingrich earlier this year waved off the Pelosi ad as “probably the single dumbest thing I’ve...