Jonathan Bernstein says Newt Gingrich never had a chance to win the GOP nomination -- "he's Sarah Palin without the fanatical supporters but with the marital history of John Edwards" -- but he could play the role Jerry Brown did in the 1992 Democratic presidential campaign.
"In that year, Brown (who was at that point a washed-up has-been of a politician) was almost completely ignored while Bill Clinton went about wrapping up the nomination. However, late in the day, Brown wound up getting some attention and even won a primary, allowing the press to temporarily pretend that he was a real threat to Clinton's nomination for a week or two."