Newt GingrichNew Hampshire is among our smallest and least-populated states, but it has enormous influence on presidential politics. After the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire has the United States' first primary, on Jan. 10. It is fiercely proud of that spot.
Several Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election, and New Hampshire is figuring big in that contest. While former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is presumed to have a comfortable lead in New Hampshire, the largest, most influential newspaper in the state has just given its endorsement not to Romney but to fast-rising former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
That endorsement, by the New Hampshire Union Leader, was a bit of a political stunner. Romney has close ties to New Hampshire. Some have called him a virtual "native son" of the state. Moreover, he had worked hard to win the Union Leader's coveted endorsement.
But Gingrich convinced the newspaper that he has a better plan if elected president.
The Union Leader declared: "It is not going to be enough to merely replace Barack Obama next year. We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing." It cited his transformative Contract With America and his ushering in of the first GOP House majority in decades.
"A lot of candidates say they're going to improve Washington," the endorsement stated. "Newt Gingrich has actually done that, and in this race he offers the best shot of doing it again."
Gingrich's winning of the Union Leader's endorsement builds on his momentum in the GOP race. He has generally articulated his positions clearly in the Republican debates and has climbed to the top of the polls, ahead of Romney.
Still, with such a crowded field, it will be months before we know who the GOP candidate is. Romney has a lot of money for advertising, and other conservative candidates may pull some support from Gingrich.
So we may be in for a long wait to find out which Republican will face Obama in 2012.