Following a big win in South Carolina and momentum building in Florida, Newt Gingrich suddenly seems poised to be a strong contender as the Republican Presidential Candidate.

The relatively moderate Mitt Romney trailed his conservative rival Gingrich in the state where he was leading comfortably only a week ago. A Rasmussen poll put Gingrich on 41 percent and Romney on 32 percent, while Insider Advantage, which has tended to overstate Gingrich's support, placed the former Speaker on 34.4 percent and the former Massachusetts governor on 25.6 percent.

Within minutes of winning the South Carolina primary, Gingrich tweeted: Thank you South Carolina! Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now. The Gingrich campaign announced on Monday that it raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours following the South Carolina win.

I need your help in reaching out to people in Florida ... to sign up, to donate, to get involved, said Gingrich. He added, We don’t have the kind of money that at least one of the candidates does, but we do have ideas.

Meanwhile Romney has attacked Gingrich as he displayed a more combative posture. As you look at the speaker’s record over time, it’s been highly erratic, Romney told reporters in Florida. He’s gone from pillar to post, almost like a pinball machine, from item to item in a way which is highly erratic and does not suggest a stable, thoughtful course, which is normally associated with leadership,” he added.

Earlier Gingrich said on television talkshows that Romney lacked the government expertise needed to be president. Governor Romney may be running for CEO, Gingrich said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. I’m running for president.

Romney’s campaign released a new television ad in Florida today criticizing Gingrich, including his work for Freddie Mac. While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in,” the ad says.

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