Newt is the obverse of Clinton, it's a boomer thing. Both very smart politicians who grew up during the "if it feels good do it years" lacking the necessary moral underpinning to lead the country.
I say that as a boomer whose misspent youth likewise would prevent me from being POTUS if I was lucky enough to possess some of the other qualifications necessary. No Newt in 08.
Newt lacks the maturity to effectively engage issues. He comes across as strident. He escalates his rhetoric as a self indulgence, rather than as a technique to persuade, and thus is ineffectual, and when he gained power, was a most useful tool for Clinton. Ha cannot help himself. Like many boomers, but certainly not all, he never really grew up. That's my psychobabble thought for the day.
I should add that he links he is an intellectual, when he is more of a guy who is in love with the idea of being an intellectual, without being one. The guy lacks depth. That was Barney Frank's observation, and I agree with him.