One, the conservatives are now awake and want no part of a 'moderate'.
'Moderates', such as what Newt has evolved into, are what got us into the mess we are in now.
Secondly, the conservative voices in the party are sending a message, "Pick and back the candidates who hold real conservative values or watch a lot of us choose for ourselves." Sarah, Pawlenty and a whole host of other conservatives backing Hoffman, have made that very clear.
Thirdly, 'moderation' gets us nowhere, and little respect. Newt drank the kool-aid, and is now trying to position himself as one of the 'leaders' of the party. Sarah, and others are re-defining the direction. Either the GOP, Steele, and other 'middle-of-the-road' Republicans follow, or get out of the way. Elitism in the party MUST die.
Newt the irrelevant. You used to have a set, where did they go? Never mind, we don’t care.