Back when the 2008 Republican nominee was still unknown, I watched Ann Coulter gush over Newt Gingrich on “Hannity & Colmes.” According to Ann, Newt was intelligent, conservative and a great debater. Other than make a mental note, I didn’t give it a lot of thought.

Several months later, Ann was on again, and she and Sean again discussed potential candidates. This time, she never mentioned Gingrich. When Sean brought him up, her reply was something like, “Oh, he’s okay I guess.”

Whoa! This made me sit up and ask, “What was that all about?

Even a cursory glance at his record indicates Gingrich repeatedly backs the wrong ideological horse.

In 1994, Gingrich supported the World Trade Organization and voted for GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Gingrich said, “We need to be honest about the fact that we are transferring from the United States . . . significant authority to a new organization. This is not just another trade agreement. This is a very big transfer of power.”

His GATT vote might be explained by his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that some say promotes world government and the abolition of national borders.

The Constitution grants only to Congress the power to regulate foreign trade. Voting for GATT both subrogated Congress’ authority and struck a blow to our nation’s sovereignty.

In July of 1995 at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs, Gingrich was quoted as saying: “The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution,” and suggested that we would have to re-think the Constitution. He went on to say that, “I believe in a very strong federal government.”

After leaving the House in 1999, Mr. Gingrich stayed pretty much in the background until he, alongside Nancy Pelosi, made a “We Can Do It” Global Warming commercial for Al Gore. Really?

In 2009, Newt Gingrich endorsed Dede Scozzafava in the NY-23 House race. Dede was liberal to the point of flaming. She supported cap-and-trade and national health care, which even her Democrat opponent did not. Conservative Doug Hoffman, after being rejected by the local GOP, ran as an independent and came very close to winning. Had he won, Hoffman would have most certainly sat with the Republicans. Scozzafava dropped out halfway through her campaign, and endorsed the Democrat.

Newt later toured the country with Al Sharpton to promote Obama’s education policies, and last Sunday on “Meet The Press,” said that he supports a requirement that every person purchase health insurance.

Newt Gingrich announced to this year’s CPAC audience that, “Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan.” Well, neither is Newt Gingrich.

The latest on Newt: