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Is Newt Gingrich the Christine O'Donnell of Election 2012?

Some analysts of Election 2012 are comparing the two, saying that Newt Gingrich may be setting the party up to lose a winnable race, as Christine O鈥橠onnell did a little over a year ago.

Is Newt Gingrich the Christine O鈥橠onnell of the national Republican Party?

You remember Ms. O鈥橠onnell, of course. She鈥檚 the tea party favorite who defeated then-Rep. Mike Castle, the GOP establishment choice, in Delaware鈥檚 2010 Senate primary. Dogged by reports that she鈥檇 dabbled in the dark arts as a teen, she ran a memorable ad during the general-election campaign that began with her saying, 鈥淚'm not a witch.鈥� Democrat Chris Coons subsequently cruised to an easy victory.

Well, Mr. Gingrich is unlikely to begin an ad by staring into the camera and saying, 鈥淚 am not a wizard.鈥� But some Republican analysts compare the two, saying that Gingrich may be setting the party up to lose a winnable race, as O鈥橠onnell did a little over a year ago.

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter hit this theme big during an appearance on Washington鈥檚 WMAL radio on Monday. She 鈥淢orning Majority鈥� show that while the ex-speaker has done great things for the GOP in the past, 鈥渉e does not have a prayer of a chance in a general election.鈥�

With Gingrich, Ms. Coulter said, you get wild over-the-top assertions. She remembered that in 1994, after he was set to become speaker of the House, he proposed opening up orphanages and creating janitorial jobs for poor kids on welfare.

鈥淚t made [GOP lawmakers] sound like Dickensian brutes,鈥� said Coulter.

Coulter 鈥� who鈥檚 so fiery that her latest book is titled 鈥淒emonic鈥� 鈥� then compared Gingrich to the tea party favorites who scored upset primary victories in 2010, only to crash in flames in the midterms.

鈥淚 see Newt Gingrich as the [Nevada Senate candidate] Sharron Angle or the Christine O鈥橠onnell of the national party,鈥� said Coulter.

OK, but Coulter is a Romney backer. She said so herself. Is this comparison unfair?

Well, first of all, Gingrich would have to win the GOP nomination for it to really apply. Right now, that鈥檚 certainly possible: He鈥檚 tied with Mitt Romney in the national polls. But it looks less likely than it did a week ago. Attack ads from GOP rivals 鈥� and anti-Newt rhetoric from Coulter and other GOP luminaries 鈥� have caused Gingrich to sink in the polls in recent weeks. Suddenly he鈥檚 in big trouble in Iowa, for instance.

And Gingrich doesn鈥檛 represent the tea party faction of the party so much as he does the anti-Romney faction, which is pretty big. Upwards of 70 percent of GOP voters opt for candidates other than the ex-Massachusetts governor. So in that sense, it鈥檚 not as if Gingrich is sneaking up on a beloved establishment figure, as O鈥橠onnell did in Delaware. He鈥檚 simply the latest person around whom the sizable stop-Mitt crowd has coalesced.

Gingrich himself has lashed out at his rivals' campaign against him.

鈥淚 really wish they would have the courage to be positive, and I wish they would have the courage to have a campaign which would match ideas [rather] than see whose consultants can be the nastier,鈥� he said Monday in Iowa.

True, Gingrich has high negative ratings among independents, as O鈥橠onnell did. In that sense the comparison rings true. The Republicans who pulled the lever for O鈥橠onnell in the Delaware primary just did not see, or chose to ignore, that she was viewed very differently by the state electorate at large. She was in no sense electable.

But here鈥檚 one huge difference between 鈥渘ot a witch鈥� and the ex-speaker: O鈥橠onnell supports Romney. She endorsed him earlier this month, presenting editors with a glorious opportunity to work sorcery on their headlines. Our favorite was 鈥�: Christine O鈥橠onnell endorses Mitt Romney.鈥�