As polls show more Republicans around the country warming to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, more than 60 federal, state and local officials joined Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday at the Gold Dome to endorse the former Georgia congressman.
Some of the officials, including several congressmen, were already on board for Gingrich, but some of the support was new, including the endorsement of Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons. The announcement comes as Gingrich's campaign is surging in key early voting states but also as Gingrich has struggled to show support from those who know him best -- Georgians and former colleagues in Washington.
Even Tuesday, some key political figures -- such as Georgia's House speaker and its two Republican U.S. senators -- still stayed on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned Gingrich taped an automated phone call that went to a number of voters in the state. Part campaign ad, part fundraising appeal, it shows Gingrich is planning for a campaign that could extend to Georgia's March 6 primary.
The Gingrich campaign did not respond to questions about the robocall. But Gingrich's daughter Jackie Gingrich Cushman said after Tuesday's news conference at the state Capitol that the campaign was not getting ahead of itself.
“We’re very excited about where we are, and we’re just going to keep going,” she said.
Gingrich has surged to the top of the polls nationally and in many key early voting states as Republican voters looking for an alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have coalesced around him.
Deal, who chairs Gingrich's Georgia campaign and served with him in the U.S. House, said he chose to back Gingrich because he knew him personally "and knew what kind of candidate he could be."
"He is a man of ideas," Deal said, "but he is also a man willing to listen to your ideas."
Kerwin Swint, a Kennesaw State University political scientist and a former GOP consultant, said Tuesday’s announcement will help Gingrich overcome the impression that he lacks establishment support -- at least in Georgia.
“Congressional Republicans elsewhere aren't so excited -- yet,” Swint said. “The closer he gets to being the nominee, though, the more the rest will fall in line, even if holding their nose.”
Tuesday's announcement, while showing broad support from many corners of the state, lacked some key names.
Other than Williams, the top lawmaker in the state Senate, and a couple of committee chairs, few of the other legislators who stood with Deal are in leadership positions. House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, for example, has not endorsed a candidate for president, and neither has Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock.
Also, while five of the state's Republican congressmen -- Phil Gingrey, Tom Price, Jack Kingston, Austin Scott and Lynn Westmoreland -- have endorsed Gingrich, the other three -- U.S. Reps. Paul Broun, Rob Woodall and Tom Graves -- have not endorsed anyone. The state's two U.S. senators, Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, also have said they're staying out of the race, at least for now.
“I really don’t have a timeline for an endorsement," Graves said. "I think there’s still a lot of qualified candidates out there. It’s not so much about region or state, it’s about who they are, what they stand for and their vision for America’s future."
Once McDonough businessman Herman Cain dropped out of the race, Westmoreland, of Coweta County, said he was ready to back Gingrich. The two share a long history -- Westmoreland worked on Gingrich’s first House race in 1978 -- but it has not always been smooth. Gingrich backed Republican Dylan Glenn over Westmoreland in his first congressional race in 2004.
“In this business, you’re not going to always agree on what you think is the best for the party or the best direction maybe that the party should be going or doing," Westmoreland said. "And Newt and I have had several of those, but that doesn’t mean that I still don’t think he’s the best candidate.”
Westmoreland shrugged off criticism coming from Gingrich’s former colleagues, some of whom are tied to Romney, about the former speaker’s leadership style. Few members are publicly behind Gingrich, while Romney has amassed several dozen congressional endorsements.
“Does Newt have maybe a problem with having too many ideas? Absolutely,” Westmoreland said. “But you know, at the same time, I think he’s done more thinking about this country than anybody we’ve had in the past little bit of time.”
And most importantly, Westmoreland said, “I think Newt can win.”
In fact, there were signs this week that establishment Republicans had begun to soften toward Gingrich. Former Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN on Monday that Gingrich shouldn't be underestimated. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also told the network that Gingrich could be a better general election candidate than Romney.
Another powerful segment of the GOP base also appears far from settled on a candidate. Evangelical voters, who make up 38 percent of all Georgians, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, are also largely taking a wait-and-see approach.
Ralph Reed, a former Georgia GOP chairman and former head of the Christian Coalition, said Gingrich is doing well among evangelical voters in Iowa and other early states, but does not yet have a majority of their support -- and is unlikely to get a majority of their votes. But, Reed said, Gingrich seems to be leading among these socially conservative voters.
Reed, now head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, said his organization has yet to make an endorsement.
"It’s not reflection on a candidate," Reed said. "While we have never ruled out making a statement of support for a specific candidate at some point in the future, in general we felt it was best for the candidates to make the strongest possible appeal to socially conservative voters based on shared values."
Staff writer Daniel Malloy contributed to this article from Washington.
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