LUTZ, Fla. -- Fresh off an endorsement from former Republican candidate Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich attended church in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Some among the congregation at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz didn't even know Gingrich was scheduled to join the service until a big bus, a big press corps, and the candidate himself showed up on Sunday morning.
Newt Gingrich didn't speak during the service, which took place as the church celebrated its annual "Sanctity of Life Sunday."
He used that as a starting point for his speech to reporters.
"I believe life begins at conception," he said, adding that he wants to appoint a commission to look into what happens to embryos in fertility clinics and how those clinics are managed.
As Florida's primary draws closer, Gingrich aims to distance his views from those of Mitt Romney by referring to his opponent as a "pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase moderate from Massachusetts," a remark he repeated three times in less than ten minutes.
In front of much of the congregation, Gingrich also defended his plan to establish a moon base by 2020 against claims that it would cost billions of taxpayer dollars.
"Some of you may like it. Some may dislike it," Gingrich said. "But I gave the boldest explanation of going into space since John F. Kennedy in 1961."
Gingrich is not the first Republican candidate to visit Idlewild this campaign season. Last August, then-candidate Michele Bachmann also attended service there and held a press conference outside the church afterward.
"We don't support necessarily the person, we support the process here at this church, so anytime a candidate wants to come and hear the word of God, it's a good thing," says congregant Johnny Grant.
He sees it as a good thing for the entire congregation, including his three young children, even though they may not grasp what they're seeing yet. "They enjoy the spectacular entrance and exit," he says.
The spectacular entrance, and eventual exit of the primaries, is what Gingrich also awaits. "I look forward to the next couple weeks," Gingrich says. "This debate is going to go on. It's going to get clearer."
Two polls released this weekend show Romney with a double-digit lead in Florida. However, Gingrich told reporters on Sunday that he expects the final results to be much closer than the polls suggest.