This discussion about Newt, San Fran Nan, and the Speaker of the House gig reminds me of Gerald Ford.
All he ever wanted to be was Speaker. And he became president due to Nixon's downfall, the only president not to have been elected to that office.
Say whatcha want about Gerry Ford - he wasn't as klutzy as the media made him out to be, and he wasn't an idiot, either. Or a whacko.
He took a stand that cost him being elected in his own right - pardoning Nixon of any illegalities he might've had committed.
While doing so was political suicide, the fact he did it and did so gracefully, after suitable contemplation, speaks well of him, I think.
When did the Speaker gig turn ugly? Tip O'Neill? Maybe - he and Reagan went round and round, though they were buddies in real life, IIRC. Jim Wright? Yeah, there's an ethics scandal right there.
Tom Foley? Again, if I recall, he lost his Speaker gig when he lost his representative election. How dumb is that?
Maybe Ford was the last, real, Speaker-who-never-was. :clueless: