Can he hold his own in a debate: Yes
Can he win an election: Only under Depression like circumstances.
Where Gingrich is sort of strong, President Obama is stronger. The personal life is not going to look so great for Newt, and the negative ads practically write themselves.
Most significance will be the weaknesses of Newt Gingrich as a campaigner: he has no experience running for anything larger than a Congressional district. He has never been a cabinet officer, he has never been a VP, and he has never been a high-ranking military officer. He has yet to show that his vanity will not cause him to believe that he has a special pull in Pennsylvania because he was born there despite polls showing the opposite. He has yet to show that he can manage the resources that a successful campaign not only must collect but must also disburse wisely.
The one certainty is that the Democrats will be running the slickest campaigner since at least Ronald Reagan, and that the Republicans have at worst the George McGovern of the Right and at best maybe the new Thomas E. Dewey.
