While it seems unlikely that the past ethics troubles of Newt Gingrich during his time in Congress will matter much in his bid for the White House, for Republicans who served with him in the House, Gingrich's time as Speaker is getting a second look.
There is one person who was on the inside during Gingrich's time as Speaker - and he now happens to hold that same job - Speaker John Boehner.
With Gingrich now soaring in the polls, Boehner repeatedly sidestepped questions on Wednesday about any endorsement for the former Speaker.
"Newt has been a longtime friend," the Speaker told reporters, "but my focus is on what the American people sent us here to do."
Another question about Gingrich didn't get any further.
"Newt’s been a longtime friend, but I’ve spent a lot of time this year avoiding getting involved in picking winners or losers in a presidential contest,” Boehner said.
It was more evidence of how Republicans in the Congress haven't been rushing to join Gingrich's bandwagon.
Is it because of the history of Newt in the Congress?
Back when Gingrich was Speaker, Boehner was the head of the Republican Conference in the House, a top leadership position - and questions still bubble over whether that put Boehner in the middle of the 1997 GOP coup against Gingrich.
Boehner denied any involvement, calling that "an inaccurate rumor."
I looked back at my stories from the summer of 1997, and they painted a similar story - lots of talk of Boehner's involvement, but the Ohio Republican would deny it but also sidestep the questions for the most part.
Why is Gingrich's time as Speaker important? Because there are a lot of Republicans who didn't like how Gingrich ran the House back then, and they worry it won't be much different if he is the GOP nominee.
One of the unconvinced is Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has taken some baby steps to level criticism at Gingrich in public about his leadership of the House.
Most of the others who served with Gingrich and are still in the Congress have stayed below the radar on their former colleague - but with Gingrich now way up in the polls, the past of Speaker Gingrich will get another look.
