Gingrich Says His Campaign Can Still “Shock The Country”

Newt Gingrich sounded upbeat tonight despite what looks like will be a fourth-place finish in New Hampshire, vowing to his supporters that he will “shock the country” and put America back on track.

Gingrich told his supporters to call everyone they know in South Carolina and Florida, to help him get the delegates he needs to win the GOP presidential nomination. He contends he is the best Republican to take on and debate President Obama in the fall.

“This is step two of a long process,” the former House speaker said in Manchester, N.H.

“We have an opportunity, I think, to unify the country around a message of jobs, economic growth and very dramatic programs,” Gingrich said. “I believe if we had a Republican House, Republican Senate and a Gingrich presidency … it would be amazing how much we get done.”

Even before the final votes were cast in New Hampshire, Newt Gingrich was staking his claim in South Carolina.

Gingrich is ready to blitz the Palmetto State with a TV ad hitting Romney for changing his views on abortion — a spot designed in part to appeal to the social conservatives who are a crucial South Carolina voting bloc.

“What happened after Massachusetts moderate Mitt Romney changed his position from pro-abortion to pro-life?” says the ad, according to The Washington Post. “He governed pro-abortion.”

Gingrich has been going after Romney more aggressively since coming in fourth in the Iowa caucuses, which the former House speaker blamed on negative ads paid for by a pro-Romney “super PAC.”

He’s been calling Romney a “Massachusetts moderate” and portraying himself as a “bold Reagan conservative.” Gingrich told MSNBC earlier today that he’s looking forward to campaigning in South Carolina, where he said he intends to do a lot of “differentiating” between his record and Romney’s.

Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting Gingrich’s candidacy, is investing $3.4 million in South Carolina advertising to paint Romney as a greedy corporate raider. South Carolina’s 9.9% unemployment rate is higher than the national average.

{USA Today On Politics/Matzav.com Newscenter}