I don’t know that the real message has percolated enough yet to have any deciding effect. The point was never to attack capitalism, but to draw into question McRomney’s electability.
The narrative just got horribly misconstrued out of the gate by the media; though to be fair, Rick Perry running around talking about “vulture capitalism”—a term Newt never used—wasn’t very helpful, in spite of being a legit complaint.
Either way, we all know that Romney’s tenure as a private equity manager of Bain Capital is going to be a Pandora’s Box in the general election, and a gift that keeps on giving for the Democrats.
I'm sure that was the point, but it didn't come across that way. Newt gambled big and lost. And then Perry joined in -- followed reluctantly by Santorum. The "clown car" was finally full.
Newt ended up turning Romney into a victim. His decision (aided by the big money he couldn't resist) will go down in history as one of the biggest political miscalculations ever. What a stupid, stupid thing to do.