Gingrich's N.H. team eager to chip into Romney's lead

MANCHESTER, N.H. - - Despite its convenient location next door to Castro's Back Room, there were no victory cigars being lit inside Newt Gingrich's New Hampshire campaign headquarters on Monday.

Still, a sense of momentum following Sunday's coveted Union Leader endorsement was palpable among the small yet newly energized staff.

Balloons flanked the entrance of the uncluttered office, while a neat pile of yard signs that were ordered just last week rested in a back corner of the lobby, waiting to be distributed soon to supporters.

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"More and more people are coming into the office," said Gingrich's New Hampshire campaign support manager, Erin Lamontagne. "People from all over are here saying, 'I love Newt. How do I help?' "

Most of the offices inside the centrally located Elm Street headquarters remain empty, as just four staffers try to keep up with the buzz suddenly surrounding the campaign.

Gingrich plans to devote the majority of his time before voting begins in January to campaigning in Iowa, but he will also return to this first-in-the-nation primary state "very soon," according to aides.

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In an effort to use his limited resources most efficiently and cut into Mitt Romney's formidable Granite State lead, Gingrich will focus on the three most populous counties, all of which are located in the southeastern quadrant of New Hampshire.

Romney has maintained a sizable 18-point lead over Gingrich here, according to the latest RCP polling average. But after the Union-Leader endorsement bolstered a growing sense of Gingrich as the strongest alternative to Romney in the GOP field, the former House speaker's New Hampshire team hopes that their candidate can close the gap with a momentum-generating victory halfway across the country a week before primary day.

"I think an Iowa win is worth probably six, seven points here in New Hampshire," said Gingrich's state director, Andrew Hemingway. "So I think if we win Iowa and roll into New Hampshire, we're basically tied."

Amid the hoopla surrounding his current momentum swing, it is easy to forget how recently Gingrich had been written of for dead, especially in New Hampshire.

As Hemingway sat for an interview inside the headquarters that officially opened less than three weeks ago, the latest Fox News segment on the Union Leader endorsement aired in the background, serving as a reminder of just how much his prospects have improved.

"There has to be a general belief that you have a campaign in place and that there's momentum and that you can win this thing," Hemingway said. "And more than anything, I think the endorsement from the Union Leader says, 'Look, we believe these guys can win,' and for a reputable source to come out and say, 'We think you can win,' other people naturally tend to follow that."

The still bare-bones campaign is adding meat daily here with county captains now in place and a growing database of people who want to help.

"It's frightening but exciting, I'll tell you," volunteer coordinator Pam Smith said of the uptick in interest. "Honest to God, they're just flowing in hand over fist."

While Hemingway is confident the campaign can go toe to toe with Romney, despite the front-runner's inherent advantages, even the most optimistic partisan would have to admit that the Gingrich presence is far less extensive than what Romney -- or even Jon Huntsman -- has created here.

Gingrich has also yet to air a single TV ad in the state, but after spending the past few weeks laying the groundwork here, the team expects the Union Leader endorsement to generate plenty of free media, which could prove invaluable.

And it is the likely manifestation of the influential newspaper's longstanding antipathy toward Romney that may prove most vital to Gingrich's hopes of pulling off the upset on Jan. 10.

"The person they've endorsed, they're going to push them, and they're going to go after the person they haven't endorsed," Hemingway said. "Obviously there is something going on with them and Mitt Romney, so that's a huge factor, and how that plays out, that's up to them."

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