The very name makes me shudder...

... and I don't know where you heard her, but I agree with her (and your) assessment of the Gingrich rise.

The man is so good at making his calm and eloquent statements bristle with passion and invective, but never raises his voice or loses his composure.  He is a master at sarcasm and irony... and that can be a good thing in politics (as F. Ryan pointed out).

I'm no Gingrich supporter, as anyone who has EVER read any of this blog will know... but even I was a bit surprised by the ex-wife's comments.  It smacked from beginning to end of sour grapes, and while it might have been indicative of the manner in which Newt manages his personal relationships (he's got a messy track record, as everyone knows), it does nothing to show his abilities and strengths (or lack thereof) as CIC.

I wanted to say that I was a bit surprised by one portion of your post, though...

Santorum is the Tea Party favorite?  Almost everything I have read and understand to date says that Ron Paul's more than surprising showing in Iowa and NH was entirely due to his "huge" Tea Party support.  Santorum (I think) is the closest we are going to get to a Reagan-like candidate in 2012... but he is far from a "constitutionalist" and his sole understanding of "smaller government" is almost identical to Ron Reagan's:  smaller in cost, not so much in scope or size.  I think Rick would be perfectly happy with a clear reduction in the rate at which government GREW, and could easily forgo the possibility that he could actually shrink government to something smaller than it was even in 2006.

If Santorum has Tea Party support, it is because he hasn't embraced the isolationist tones that Ron has concerning foreign policy.  Otherwise, Ron is the runaway Tea Party favorite... and it amazes me that Ron Paul's advisers and speech writers haven't brought that fact home to him sooner.