Is Newt Gingrich's Surge Already Over?

Newt's poll numbers look maxed out

New polling suggests that Newt Gingrich's week and a half surge to the top of the GOP primary polls might be coming to an end. With the conservative National Review dedicating an entire issue to taking down Newt, the "new Newt" is in for a fight with Iowa just weeks away. On this week's cover, Newt is "Marvin the Martian,"  stories titled, "How Speaker Newt Balanced the Budget, And Why President Newt Would Not" will be featured. Subtle.

This drop for Newt was predictable given his history and political record. The establishment was definitely not just going to let Newt sweep the floor with Romney and march into the general election where he would ultimately get beaten badly by President Obama. And while Newt has pledged to keep his campaign from going on the attack, the Romney camp has no such qualms. They've attacked Newt for being self-absorbed, thrice married, and even called out the former House Speaker as "zany," an attack that's sure to draw blood (no not really).

So far Romney has failed in landing a punch on Newt with any of his attacks.

The bottom line is this: the attacks on Newt have just begun and there are decades of material for opponents to use against him. It's going to be a long primary season.

It's still not clear even with high poll numbers how Newt is going to win Iowa which is a caucus set up without much infrastructure and field staff on the ground, but maybe this year will be different.

Only time will tell.