COLUMBIA, S.C. -- In the first few hours after Newt Gingrich's 12-point rout Saturday over Mitt Romney as the finality of the thrashing washed over the former House speaker and those in and around his campaign, a growing optimism hardened into confidence.
"I think he wins Florida," said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who endorsed Gingrich and stood on the stage with him Saturday night.
Franks articulated how Gingrich is capturing momentum among Republicans, in part, because many feel there is a "subconscious equivocation" about core conservative issues in the heart and soul of Mitt Romney.
"And it's really not fair to put that mantle upon him, of some metaphysical feeling that we wonder if he's going to be there in the clinch," Franks said. "But I'm afraid that that's kind of a ubiquitous feeling among conservatives."
Kevin Kellems, one of Gingrich's top advisers, said that "Gov. Romney?s campaign is now showing real signs of being off-balance and nervous. There must be a reason for it."
When asked for specific signs of anxiety in the Romney campaign, Kellems responded by email, "among others, Gov. Romney's inability to answer basic questions about his taxes without bouncing around the podium like an overcaffeinated high-schooler being put on the spot by his parents."
Kellems, a former White House aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and a veteran Republican political figure from Indiana, has become the closest thing to a campaign manager for Gingrich, though he disavows the title.
"Newt runs his own campaign," Kellems said from inside the empty Hilton ballroom where Gingrich had an hour or so earlier given a 23-minute victory speech to hundreds of rowdy, boozy supporters.
Regarding Florida, Kellems indicated that Romney's money and organizational advantage could be swept aside by the genuine enthusiasm among conservative Republicans for Gingrich.
"In South Carolina, Gingrich was outspent 2 to 1 by Romney and his allies, which potentially bodes well for Gingrich in Florida," Kellems said. "Considering the size of his South Carolina victory margin, Newt Gingrich has proven himself to be the conservative alternative to Massachusetts moderate Mitt."
Kellems expressed confidence that Gingrich's hot-blooded, no-holds-barred style of conservative politics would eventually win out over Romney's approach, sooner or later.
"Newt doesn?t think in terms of absolute marks on the primary calendar -- he thinks in terms of why his bold conservative approach to jobs and growth can eventually prevail over a timid moderate," Kellems said. "How long that will take is anyone's guess at this stage."
That adjective, "timid," seems to capture the way that Gingrich, his campaign and his supporters feel about Romney -- and why they don't like him.
"I don't think Romney created enough heat. He's been leading here, campaigning for five years and never created any heat," said Katon Dawson, a former South Carolina GOP chairman who helped lead the state effort for Gingrich. "I don't think he's got that conservative passion to do it. I don't think they believe him. I don't think he connects."
The proposition that Romney is timid is about to be tested in Florida and beyond. Romney's campaign -- starting with the campaign manager Matt Rhoades -- knows full well how to conduct bare-knuckled politics and is gearing up to do so.
"Speaker Gingrich is a failed leader who had to resign in disgrace," said Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told HuffPost on Sunday, previewing the line of attack Romney supporters will pursue in the coming days. "He had his chance to change Washington. Since leaving government, Newt Gingrich has been a lobbyist in Washington. This is not the type of leadership we want in the White House."
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