ouch!

Well, maybe not the "nod".
I'm expecting the GOP to winnow down to two: Romney and not-Romney,
and Newt has may seem more electable to moderates... until the run-off.
.

The republicans have a problem. Anyone who is moderate enough to win the general election is not conservative enough to win the primary.

Now that is funny, right thar!

This is Romney's curse and his blessing.

He is deliberately (or perhaps genuinely and honestly) keeping the distance between his primary posture and his general posture as short as possible. This will make him MORE electable in the general election. Electable enough to defeat Obama? I don't think so, but there's a LOT of campaigning ahead of us

Regardless of the pundits' expectations about Gingrich getting the GOP nomination,
why does his personal life have such a bad reputation ?

from Wikipedia:
Gingrich became a leader of the Republican investigation of President Clinton
for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with his [Clinton's] affairs.
Gingrich regularly attacked President Bill Clinton for his immorality,
pointing to "a level of disrespect and decadence that should appall every American."

It was later revealed that, during this period, Gingrich himself was having sex with a congressional aide in her 20s.
Gingrich and Bisek had continued their affair thoughout the Lewinsky scandal,
This is one hypocrisy that has followed him since.

And besides all that:

Gingrich has an exquisite talent for speaking with words his audience needs/wants to hear,
even when he presents one of the most outrageous excuses for adultery in American politics.
It was his patriotism that made him do it.


CNN.com
In a 2011 interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network
Gingrich addressed his past infidelities by saying:
.

It was all his mother's fault.


She turned him into a newt!

NEWT GINGRICH, The Politician

Newt Gingrich has spent his lifetime in politics, at local, state, and federal levels.
He is mostly known for his time, during the Clinton years, as Speaker of the House from 1994-1998.

During that time, he was effective, working with Clinton and the Senate, to approve balanced budgets.
He has a reputation (that he promotes) as being smart, intellectual, and hot tempered.
He also has a reputation as being more moderate than other Republicans,
and willing to work with Democrats on some issues.

But he still has the reputation of being the:
"most unpopular man in American politics" for his Contract for America
"the only Speaker of the House to be disciplined for ethics violations"
"the most hypocritical politician" during Clinton's impeachment proceedings.

Some of his national platform issues have been:
*replacing EPA with an "Environmental Solutions Agency"
*reopening all off-shore oil-drilling
*ensuring there are no new taxes
*abolishing the capital gains tax
*reducing the corporate tax
*abolishing the so-called death tax.
*100% deduction for business equipment in one year
*option to purchase private insurance instead of Medicare.
*opposition to Supreme Court ban on school prayer

And besides all that:

Gingrich is very confident of this abilities
In an interview, he said And besides, besides all that:

Gingrich is currently challenged for his "consulting fees" from Freddy Mac and Fanny May.
He argues he was hired as a "historian" while others favor "lobbiest"
If it turns out to be the latter, Gingrich may have run afoul of federal laws on lobbying.

But Newt is very confident of his ability to change his image:

.

He's still an asshole and his past, both public and private will not allow him to get the nomination.

Hopefully. Just remember who you're talking about.

Cain, Next, Bachmann, Santorum ... I know I'm forgetting someone here, but I basically feel the same about mostly all of them.

I was referring to the electorate who will be doing the nominating. You can't be sure they won't nominate Newt - if the primary had been held previously, Palin, Bachmann, Cain, and uhhhh... Perry would each have been nominated. And they all suck as badly as Newt.

Frightening actually.
A poll showing Cain leading tells more about those being polled than it does about his abilities to lead. Honestly, it shows what a sad state we are in. This should be about selecting the best leader for the country, and I am still amazed that he is even being considered, let alone in the lead. The pickens are pretty slim.

Do they even pull their head out long enough to see ho much better the alternative looks compared to their options?

When you vote based on ideals, no.

If voters cared about a persons personal life they never would have elected Obama and would have run Willie Clinton out of town.