the art of the backdown

gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich, riding the tiger on dec. 1st:

i’m going to be the nominee ... it’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high i’m going to be the nominee.

dec. 12th ...

i'm now, i think by a big margin, the front-runner.

dec. 22nd ...

i never said i’d come in first in iowa.

jan. 2nd, on the eve of the iowa caucuses:

i don’t think i’m going to win. i think you look at the numbers.