Newt Gingrich speaks in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich rallied in Pensacola on Monday. The rally was part of last minute push for votes.

Gingrich made a number of stops across the Sunshine State, including Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando.

He's really trying to rally the conservative base, even bringing along with him Michael Reagan, the son of the late President Ronald Reagan.

It's crunch time for Newt Gingrich. One day ahead of the Florida primary, the former House speaker came to fire up the conservative base in Northwest Florida.

"How many of you think that America today is deeply in the wrong direction?" Gingrich said.

The latest poll from Quinnipiac University shows Mitt Romney with a 14-point-lead among likely Florida Republican voters.

The Massachusetts governor has repeatedly attacked Gingrich for the way he lost his job as House speaker in the mid-90s. But on Monday, Gingrich fought back.

"The Wall Street Journal said Romney is not telling the truth; the National Review said Romney is not telling the truth. You cannot get to be president if you don't have the courage to tell the truth to the American people!” Gingrich said to the crowd.

But, he addressed issues pertinent to this region.

Gingrich spoke of repealing President Obama's healthcare plan, and he addressed shrinking government spending.

“My goal is to shrink government spending to meet revenues, not to increase revenues to catch up with Obama spending,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich also addressed religious freedom.

“Romney as governor eliminated kosher food from retired Jewish Senior Citizens on Medicaid, and he has no understanding of the importance of conscience and the importance of religious liberty in this country; and I will make religious liberty your right to go to God with no government interference,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich also made it a point to talk about one of the region's biggest influences.

"We have to rebuild our military, we don't need to shrink it, we have to rebuild it,” Gingrich said. “We need a new generation of ships, we need a new generation of airplanes."

Gingrich faces a tough fight for Florida, but he announced he's in it for the long haul.

The former Speaker of the House also announced his annoyance with the types of questions brought up during the recent presidential debates.

 “As your nominee, I will not accept debates in the fall in which a reporter is a moderator because you don’t need another Obama person in the debate,” Gingrich said.

Florida’s the biggest test so far in this primary race. Rick Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich each have won one state and Gingrich is hoping for a strong showing.

Even though the latest polls show Romney in the lead, many Gingrich supporters packed the Pensacola Aviation Center to listen to the candidate speak.

The crowd started forming two hours before Gingrich even showed up.

"I think he's the best man for the job, and he's not trying to buy the election," one woman said.

Gingrich spoke to the crowd for about half an hour and touted his issues, including those that will directly impact this region: increasing defense spending, controlling the border, and religious liberty.

"There's not other candidate out there that has the background he has,” said one local man.

"He has the courage to change what needs to be changed in Washington to give [my daughter] a better future," said a mother.

During the rally, Kevin Lehmann addressed the speaker directly, encouraging Gingrich to do a better job at selling his message to the country.

“[Gingrich] has by far the most aggressive, the most palatable economic plan that can put our country at least in a position to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that we desperately need here," he said. "[He is] in my opinion, the one man who can go up against Barack Obama in the debates.”

Gingrich fell behind Mitt Romney in recent polls, but the former speaker plans to hang in there for the long haul. Lehmann thinks a neck-and-neck race would be good for the GOP.

“As long as this race continues to go to the convention, who's the attention going to be on? It's going to be on the Republican candidates! We want that!" Lehmann said.