Newt flash: Gingrich pulls out

And then it was over. The former House speaker from Georgia, darling of tea partiers, the man who condemned Bill Clinton’s infidelity while having affairs of his own, gave up his White House bid. He’ll be missed.

To be perfectly frank, the folks who’ll miss him the most are comedians and newspaper headline writers who’ll no longer have a “Newt” to transmute into puns. You know:

Gingrich hopes to Newter his critics.

Gingrich’s supporters have formed a Newtist colony.

Gingrich’s chief source of inspiration is the Book of Newteronomy.

That sort of thing.

He’ll also be missed by conservatives who had lofty ideas about his durability as presidential timber. In the early weeks of the GOP campaign, when Rick Perry and Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann were in the race, letter writers to the Daily News mostly ignored them. Letters to the editor typically touted either Ron Paul or Newt Gingrich.

We don’t doubt the Newtists were sincere. But the object of their veneration is a crafty guy.

Gingrich’s fans were impressed — overly impressed, in our view — by his reputation as a master debater and his fondness for picking fights with the media. The former was a mirage. We saw Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum both outmaneuver him in the GOP debates. President Obama would have chewed him up in a face-to-face talkfest. One mention of moon colonies and Gingrich would’ve been laughed off the stage.

As for the media-bashing, that was Mr. Gingrich’s most dependable applause-getter, nothing more. Remember: Those barbs he threw at debate moderators were tossed during events planned, promoted and broadcast by the media.

Well, it was a fun ride. Mr. Gingrich is a colorful and amusing character. But the clown has hung up his floppy shoes — for now — and it’s time for the race to get serious.