Gallup identifies a Gingrich-voter characteristic which, if extended, worries:
Newt Gingrich's current lead in Republican preferences for the GOP presidential nomination is largely due to particularly high support from the types of Republicans who might be expected to turn out heavily in the upcoming primaries.... Roughly 40% of Republicans aged 55 and older as well as core Republicans (as opposed to independents who lean Republican) and conservatives currently favor Gingrich for the nomination. This contrasts with 21% to 23% of each group backing Mitt Romney.
Those who turn out heavily in primaries do also in general elections. Thus, with respect to the current frontrunner, there's the worrisome aspect of my observation last month that "Romney will shatter the party, while Gingrich can unite it."
Sure, it's far too early for reliable predictions, nonetheless I remain optimistic that next November Obama-Biden will flatten its GOP opposition, which in its present form persists in radically reinventing conservatism and thereby alienating true conservatives, by the friggin' hour. But, back to this paragraph's initial point, politics and its predictive qualities are about as reliable as odd numbers in roulette -- and should the Republican nominee somehow broadly inspire his base, while, despite Obama-Biden's best efforts, this or that faction of the Democratic base sits in a disaffected huff, the resulting conflation could be quite nasty.
Nothing like covering one's bets, heh?