Gingrich has went from born-again moderate to firebomb-throwing party whip again. I don't understand his angle.
When was this? AFAIK he's always been a full-spectrum conservative. Cultural, (gays, abortion, ceremonial deism), economic (tax cuts tax cuts tax cuts privatization tax cuts), and defense (World War III against Islam, no negotiations), the whole shebang.
He paid a little lip service to the idea of technocratic bipartisanship. And he's always thought of himself as a solutions guy (laptops for students! high-tech air traffic control!). But he's always been pretty far to the right and has always been comfortable trying to bludgeon liberals with bog standard conservative wedge issues.
He's just a bit louder now than at certain other points in his career.