Newt Gingrich veers from nice to nasty, with few advisers to guide him

By Amy Gardner,
WashPost
Monday, January 9, 6:50 PM

DERRY, N.H. — On the campaign trail with Newt Gingrich these days, one never really knows who’s going to show up: the Newt who loves or the Newt who hates.

Nice Newt went to a World War II museum along the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee over the weekend, telling jokes about his waistline, using words like “happily” and “cheerfully,” and infecting the crowd with his enthusiasm and his relentless command of policy and history.

The other Newt showed up a day later during a televised debate on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Eyes narrowed, brow knitted, Gingrich accused Mitt Romney of “pious baloney” for claiming not to be a career politician. He mocked his rival, belittled him and called him a liar.

The tale of two Newts is more than a parlor game for politicos. It has become an emblem of a politician who is acting as his own senior adviser — to a candidate who can be his own worst enemy.

(More here.)