"Newt! Newt! Newt!" chanted a crowd several hundred strong at a lively rally held on Wednesday for the presidential candidate in Coral Springs, Florida.
It was Gingrich's third day of crisscrossing the Sunshine State ahead of Florida's primary next Tuesday. His campaign seems to be pulling out all the stops in a hard push to win another contest in the race for the Republican nomination.
And a new Quinnipiac University Poll shows that his victory here in Florida may be possible. It shows Gingrich winning 34 per cent of the vote, only two points behind the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in a virtual statistical dead heat separated by numbers that are within the poll's margin of error.
These are big gains for Gingrich, who was behind Romney as recently as last week by double digits.
An 'effective politician'
Many voters here say it is his experience, debating style and "closeness to the people" that are attracting them.
Tim Stockdale, a 42-year old medical supplier from Weston, Florida, told Al Jazeera that Gingrich was "one of the most effective politicians we've seen in our lifetimes". He added that "Congress is generally pretty ineffective at getting things done and when he was in charge, things did get done."
For a middle-aged couple from Fort Lauderdale, it is Gingrich's "passion" that seals the deal. "Romney is a good businessman, but we wish Romney had more passion and could get to the people more," they told Al Jazeera. "Newt is very articulate and he simplifies things for everybody, not just the elites, or businessmen and politicians."
And a 57-year-old web designer, Sunny Eckhardt, thinks Gingrich is "the best" because he can "think on his feet".
"He can win in a debate against Obama," she said. "And he will bring our country back. Obama has brought us down in the world. Newt will bring respect back to the United States from other countries."
Not yet in the bag
But a Florida win is not yet in the bag for Gingrich. For one, the former House Speaker seems to be getting little electoral love from at least one group: young voters.
"Newt is a known pharmaceutical lobbyist", read a sign held by Taylor Robitaille, an 18-year-old high school student from Coral Springs. A supporter for another Republican candidate, Texas congressman Ron Paul, Robitaille, told Al Jazeera she came to the Gingrich event to show his supporters that he is "not really conservative".
"He's the most liberal candidate on the ticket," Robitaille said. "These people don't even know his history of liberal voting, which I think is kind of ridiculous."
"His rhetoric doesn't match his words," her companion 24-year-old bartender and fellow Ron Paul supporter Mike Cotungo added. "He speaks like a conservative, but votes like a liberal".
And when Al Jazeera asked a group of four students before the last Republican debate at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa what they thought about Gingrich, all four rolled their eyes and seemed to recoil in collective horror.
"He's just an angry little man," said 25-year-old Duane Bannette, a broadcasting major. "He gives off this sense of arrogance, like he's the best person that ever lived; God's gift to mankind."
"With him, I feel he's only focusing on why the other candidates are bad," joined in 22-year-old Jesse Ritter. "It's like going to a car lot and being told to buy a Ford just because a Chevy or a Dodge would be so bad for you".
