Some Newtonians have unearthed this column I wrote back in 2006 arguing that Newt would add a lot to the 2008 Republican primary race, although he’d probably have no path to victory and come with plenty of baggage. If you want to find favorable things I’ve written about him, there’s no need to go so far back. I wrote this, for instance, when he began his surge; I have never denied his considerable talents. Of course, I also wrote this at the time of the Ryan flap and this as the Freddie payments came to light. He’s a very compelling politician who would be poorly suited to representing our cause in the high-stakes, high-intensity environment of a general-election campaign.