Brit Hume: Gingrich’s Debate Performances & ‘Uncle Newt’ Persona Helping Him In Polls

First it was Donald Trump, then Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, now Herman Cain, and it looks like the next Republican presidential candidate to get his chance in the spotlight is none other than Newt Gingrich. The latest CBS News poll has Gingrich tied with Mitt Romney in second place behind Cain, and on Fox News Sunday today, Chris Wallace and the panel discussed how Gingrich became the “flavor of the week” this time around.

RELATED: Wall Street Journal: Newt Gingrich Can Win GOP Nomination

Brit Hume noted that Gingrich has been doing very well in the recent debates, and this is helping him rise above his competition.

“He seems to now have adopted a kind of a persona that is working for him. He’s Uncle Newt. He’s complimentary of his fellow candidates; he dumps all over the president, which the Republican audiences love; he’s got substantive things to say on nearly everything, as he always has. And so, in this format, he’s found a way to look good.”

Wallace suspected that many of the younger people who are starting to look to Gingrich as a potential candidate might not be familiar with his political and personal history, but Liz Marlantes suggested Gingrich has already had his dirty laundry aired to the public so many times that his past might not matter as much in this upcoming election.

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