Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The former House speaker has arrived at the post-debate spin room with a big smile on his face. He’s had a great debate performance, and he knows it. “We’re going to win here,” Newt Gingrich tells the growing crowd of reporters.

Gingrich landed stinging shots on Mitt Romney over the latter’s super PAC’s activities and regained conservative credibility with his handling of a question about race and poverty from Fox News’s Juan Williams. It was a banner night for the candidate who recently led the Republican pack.