Despite what some suspect as shaky conservative credentials, Newt Gingrich is getting firmer support from tea party activists in Florida.
The former House speaker's rise in the polls mirrors his increasing popularity among tea partiers seeking a viable alternative to Mitt Romney.
"There is an uptick in the tea party movement in regard to Newt," said Billie Tucker, head of the First Coast Tea Party. "He has shown himself to be the most well-informed on how politics works. And he has an 'attitude' -- which we tend to like. Attitude means saying it like it is and not holding back."
By contrast, Tucker said Romney is "too vanilla for the tea party crowd."
"He has not reached out to us, and we have reached out to him to give him an opportunity to meet with our tea party. Nothing from his camp -- crickets," said Tucker, whose group boasts 10,000 members.
Jesse Phillips, on the steering committee for the Tea Party Network, a coalition of 70 tea groups around Florida, said, "I really like Newt."
"I can't speak for every tea party -- many seem to be rallying behind Herman Cain -- but I think his experience, knowledge of the issues, consistently conservative stances and ability to debate and articulate conservatism is very appealing."
Phillips ranks Gingrich, Cain and Rick Perry as his top three choices.
But not everyone is jumping on the Gingrich bandwagon. His skeptics fear that two middle-of-the-roaders as the last men standing for the GOP nomination will doom the party's conservative movement.
Henry Kelley, head of the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party, said, "I have to say I'm surprised by the surge byNewt, but I haven't heard much buzz around him."
Kelley rates his top three candidates as Cain, Ron Paul and Romney, but acknowledges "there is tremendous respect for Newt's intellect and lots of folks agree he should be in the Cabinet, potentially as secretary of the treasury."
Still, Kelley and disaffected conservatives experience a not-entirely-satisfying sense of "been there, done that" with the former congressman.
The 68-year-old Gingrich comes with a long record and some heavy baggage.
Contrary to his fiery stump speeches, the Pennyslvanian-turned-Georgian has been a tepid and inconsistent advocate of limited government.
Revealingly, he once listed futurist Alvin Toffler's "New Wave" as one of his favorite books. Calling for a new system of government, Toffler declared America's system of government "obsolete," and said it "must die and be replaced."
In Congress from 1979-1999, Gingrich voted to grant "most favored nation" status to China and supported the GATT and NAFTA trade agreements derided by staunch conservatives.
He also backed amnesty programs for illegal aliens in this country while rejecting even a 1 percent reduction in foreign aid programs.
Hailed as "exceptional" and "brilliant" as Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1995, Gingrich has spoken expansively about international relations. He's also praised Democratic Party icons Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
More recently, Gingrich cozied up to live Democrats, chatting up Bill Clinton and sharing laughs with Hillary Clinton on an airline flight. Then he moved over to the couch, where he sat with Nancy Pelosi and agreed with her about the need to "do something about climate change."
The avowed "conservative" has placed himself in diametric opposition to Republican Party orthodoxy by supporting the concept of an "individual mandate," on which Obamacare is predicated.
As Michele Bachmann, founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, stated this week, "The individual mandate was Newt Gingrich's idea and Mitt Romney implemented it" in Massachusetts.
Earlier this year, Gingrich, the co-author of the "Contract With America," criticized Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget-cutting blueprint as "extreme."
In some respects, the professorial former House speaker has returned to his college roots. While earning a master's degree at Tulane in 1968, Gingrich campaigned for Nelson Rockefeller, a liberal Northeastern Republican.
At a time when some religious conservatives are put off by Romney's Mormonism, Gingrich has walked both sides of the sectarian street, converting from Baptist to Catholic.
That conversion was done at the behest of his third wife, Callista, 45. Gingrich has admitted to dating Callista while still married to his dying second wife.
Now Gingrich faces questions over spending a reported $1 million in jewelry to get Callista's support for his presidential run. Earlier reports, confirmed by the candidate, said he had a $500,000 revolving charge account at Tiffany's, at one time unpaid.
"Sure he has some personal baggage we wished he didn't, but who doesn't?" asks Tucker.
"We need someone who will take down Barack Obama in a debate and it is appearing to be that Newt is the man for that job. We know Newt will make mincemeat out of Obama in the debates," said Tucker, who stressed that her comments did not constitute an endorsement.
Geoff Ross, a tea party activist in the Panhandle, asserts thatGingrich "is not well-supported by the tea party in Florida" and that Romney is "despised" because of his Massachusetts health-care law.
Ross ranks his top three candidates as Cain, Bachmann and Paul -- with Gingrich nowhere in sight.
Tom Tillison, a Central Florida tea party activist and blogger, is co-chair of the Orange County Friends for Herman Cain. But he's also ready to give Gingrich the benefit of the doubt.
"I do believe that Cain pulls off the nomination and think Newt would be a great VP for the ticket," he said.
Patricia Sullivan, head of the Tea Party Network, enumerates her top three GOP choices as "Cain, Cain and Cain."
Yet she acknowledges that Gingrich is scoring points.
"I think Newt's smartest move has been slamming the media representatives at the debates. Even knowing his record, I'm still tempted to be endeared to him because I'm living vicariously through him. We all want to call the 'lamestream media' out," Sullivan said.
Tom Gaitens, Florida field director for the national tea group FreedomWorks, said, "I think the people are looking at who can best debate the policies of Obama."
"The tea party, like the GOP, is sensing that Perry has significantly lost ground while Gingrich has demonstrated the unique ability to challenge the narrative from the mainstream media."
Suggesting that Romney's support has peaked, Gaitens predicted, "The conservative 42 percent will be jockeying between Cain and Gingrich, and the person who wins that race will eventually win the White House."
Janet Mixon, a member of Tea Party Manatee in Bradenton, said, "I have always liked Newt."
"I have written to him about his take on global warming and NAFTA, but I have not gotten a response yet," she related.
Mixon said Tea Party Manatee has not declared for any candidate, but did conduct a straw poll which Cain won, followed by Gingrich and Bachmann.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
