Newt Hammered by... Pretty Much Everyone

Little-explored documents reveal other choice tidbits

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich likes to compare himself to Ronald Reagan , but little-noticed documents from his decades in government reveal choice tidbits from Gingrich like this one: "Really, Reaganomics has failed." The thousands of documents were compiled by a Gingrich aide, archived at a university, and recently examined by the Washington Post . Another transcript of a 1992 speech has Gingrich explaining that Reagan's "weakness" was that "he didn’t think government mattered. … The Reagan failure was to grossly undervalue the centrality of government as the organizing mechanism for reinforcing societal behavior." And a former Gingrich chief of staff noted, at a meeting in 1983, that Gingrich called Reagan and his "people … stupid all the time," according to that transcript. More from the documents: More»

Conservative magazine's editors urge Newt to exit presidential race

(NEWSER) - The editors of the National Review have a message for Newt Gingrich: It's time to go. Rick Santorum is increasingly emerging as Mitt Romney's main challenger, as he overtakes Gingrich in contests won , delegates, and poll numbers , and the conservative magazine's editors want to see a Romney-Santorum contest. Gingrich is talented, but "it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee." When Gingrich was leading Santorum in the polls, he urged Santorum to quit. "On his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit." More»

Newt paints Mitt as a moderate—handy for November: Jonathan Alter

(NEWSER) - You might think that Newt Gingrich's assault on Mitt Romney would give President Obama the upper hand in the general election—but actually, it's just the opposite, writes Jonathan Alter at Bloomberg . Gingrich's efforts will position Romney as the "more rational and centrist" candidate, which will prove to be a big help when he snags the nomination. Romney's "pivot" into moderate general election mode will seem all the more genuine thanks to Newt. More»

Campaign is all but over, pundits agree, but Gingrich is sticking around

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney positively trounced Newt Gingrich in Florida last night, and the pundits agree that Gingrich's shot at the presidency has been all but obliterated. They also, however, agree that he won't drop out anytime soon:

• In the New York Times , Ross Douthat offers up four reasons why Gingrich's campaign is "going, going, gone." Here's one: He would have lost to Romney in Florida even if Rick Santorum had dropped out and every single Santorum backer had voted for him—and "if Gingrich can't compete in Florida, he can't compete nationally." From here on out, "every realistic path leads only to defeat."

Even though he's 'pro-abortion, pro-gun control, and pro-tax increases'

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich might spend most of his time bashing Mitt Romney , but that doesn't mean he wouldn't endorse the man if it came to that. "I think re-electing Obama is a disaster and I’ll certainly endorse the Republican nominee," Gingrich said today on Good Morning America . "But I think that Mitt Romney will have a very, very hard time differentiating himself [from Obama]." More»