Politics | Newt Gingrich Newt Gingrich Climbing Back Into the Race Howard Kurtz sees him kinda sorta making a comeback By Kevin Spak Posted Oct 18, 2011 10:04 AM CDT Copied In this Oct. 11, 2011, file photo Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, participates in a presidential debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. (AP Photo/Melina Mara, Pool) Don’t call it a comeback—because that would probably be overstating it—but Newt Gingrich is starting to show up as high as third in some GOP primary polls, Howard Kurtz notes in a Newsweek profile. Gingrich was largely left for dead after much of his campaign staff bolted, but the ex-speaker was undaunted. “This is football season,” he told his remaining loyalists. “We got hit. Get up.” The goal, he said, was to survive the summer and hope for a fall surge. And survive he has, thanks to a strong grasp of policy and competent debate showings. “If they could have a debate a night, he’d be the nominee,” former Gingrich strategist Rich Galen says. Of course, Gingrich has flaws too; just ask him. “I am a very complicated candidate, right?” he said recently. “We live in a society where gossip replaces serious policy.” Being written off has kept Gingrich’s gossip out of the spotlight of late, but “if he ever popped up to No. 2 or No. 1,” Galen warns, “all that stuff would just crush him." Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Supreme Court ruling is a big blow to Planned Parenthood. Report an error