Yes, really.

With Newt Gingrich emerging as serious contender, some Republicans are questioning his fitness for a general election campaign by seizing on comments the former speaker made in 2007 about Hispanics.

Making the case against bi-lingual education at a National Federation of Republican Women event, Gingrich said children should be taught “the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.”

In the wake of his comments, Gingrich recorded a video in rudimentary Spanish, saying: “The words I chose to express myself were not the best.”

Two things.

1) He apologized shortly thereafter and he can point to that apology today.

2) He was right. If you want to get ahead in America, you need to know English. Only speaking Spanish gets you absolutely nowhere. Which is why one of the requirements for citizenship is understanding and speaking English.

“It is indicative of Gingrich’s propensity to say crazy things off the cuff,” said an adviser to one of the former speaker’s presidential rivals. “He hasn’t had the spotlight on him up until recently, and I think it’s only a matter of time before he says something that’s inexcusable, nutty, or insulting.”

Really?

First of all, it wasn’t nutty. Insulting? Yes. But also true and not offensive in a way that will turn Republicans or even most Independents off. By and large they don’t care if you attack the idea of only speaking one, non-English language. You’ll find most will agree that only knowing Spanish in America will lead to poverty.

Second, he was the top Republican in the country from 1994 to 2000. He clearly had some spotlight on him back in 2007, otherwise his remarks wouldn’t have sparked the need for a video apology. And he’s attracting conservative attention right now for being able to regularly reject premises and answer questions fluently on the spot. So I’m thinking he might be able to hand himself politically.