Three weeks ago, when we warned in this space that conservatives should think twice before succumbing to the sudden appeal of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, we were, quite frankly, out on a limb. For all his faults, Gingrich occupies a special place in the Republican pantheon, thanks to the electoral success made possible by the Contract with America in 1994. But with his surge in popularity as an alternative to Mitt Romney, we believed it important to speak up. Essentially, our warning was that his flaws “make it difficult not to view Gingrich as an exemplar of Washington’s professional Republican politicians who talk the talk to get elected, but often don’t walk it once in office.” A lot has happened since that Nov. 29 editorial appeared. As Gingrich built a double-digit lead over Romney, it appeared that perhaps our warning came too late. But last week it became evident that a lot of people — including many of our media colleagues on the Right and, more importantly, conservative Republican primary voters in Iowa and across the nation — were indeed thinking twice about the former speaker.

Toward the end of last week, poll data came out suggesting the Gingrich surge was at least leveling out, if not receding. Then on December 14, National Review published an editorial – “Winnowing the field” – that effectively echoed our case for thinking twice before committing to Gingrich. An especially important passage in that editorial said this: “If he is the nominee, a campaign that should be about whether the country will continue on the path to social democracy would inevitably become to a large extent a referendum on Gingrich instead. And there is reason to doubt that he has changed.”