We know from a front-page New York Times story that Mitt Romney thinks the world of for-profit colleges, especially one school whose executives have contributed money to the Romney campaign and Super PAC. But a key for-profit college trade group, APSCU, probably just ensured it will also enjoy warm relations in the event of a Gingrich Administration. Last month, APSCU hired former Wisconsin Republican Congressman Steve Gunderson as its new CEO. Turns out, he’s got a special tie to Newt Gingrich’s wife and constant companion. Callista Bisek’s first job out of college was working in Rep. Gunderson’s office, and their connection is even older. Recounting Bisek’s teenage years, The New Yorker recently reported:

Her involvement in politics came largely through music: sometimes she would sing on parade floats for Representative Steve Gunderson, her friend Matt’s older brother.

Whether or not the Gingrichs make it to the White House, some have suggested that the gentlemanly Gunderson’s arrival, filling the slot vacated last year by the more pugnacious Harris Miller could signal a kinder, gentler era for the for-profits.  Miller notably made a video mocking community colleges, and during his tenure and beyond, the for-profits have lobbied mercilessly to avoid accountability for programs that harm students and taxpayers.

Let’s hope for a more constructive stance by APSCU under Gunderson.  But that may also require the continued mellowing of one Phil Singer, a consultant who is listed as the  media contact on recent APSCU press releases, including the one announcing Gunderson’s appointment. Singer was the Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign spokesman whose scorched earth approach to opposition research and media relations culminated in meltdowns at a breakfast with journalists and before the Clinton campaign staff.