Newt Gingrich was trying to praise RNC Chairman Michael Steele, but he unintentionally admitted something quite damning about the typical Republican.

“Michael Steele makes a number of old-time Republicans very nervous,” Gingrich said. “He comes out of a different background. He went to seminary … he’s African-American … But I think he’s pretty close to what we need. He’s different, he’s gutsy and he’s going to make a number of Republicans mad.”

Now, I don’t think someone going to seminary is cause to make your average Republican nervous unless the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is teaching there. What makes old-time Republicans nervous is that Steele has dark skin, which means (in their minds) that there’s a decent chance he’s going to steal your car at gunpoint.

Nice to see Gingrich admit the obvious, but it was probably just diarrhea of the mouth.