Former House Speaker and possible 2012 presidential contender Newt Gingrich repeatedly drew laughter and approving cheers in remarks following Sharron Angle’s brief speech at an American Solutions rally Thursday night in west Las Vegas.

Gingrich talked about national economic policy, called Nevada the “epicenter of this whole debate” between the two political parties about how to fix the economy, and joked about “The school of I don’t quite know how all this happened” to which he said Harry Reid and the Democrats belong:

Gingrich said he is confident Angle can beat Reid if enough conservatives get to the polls. 

“I believe that she’s going to win,” Gingrich said. “The key to her winning is for each and every one of you to get your friends and family to vote. This isn’t complicated. It’s just hard.”

Gingrich then cited recent data on food stamp payouts to make a point about policy and the major difference between the two parties:

Gingrich drew laughter when he later slammed the current Speaker of the House with a follow up on food stamp theory and an explanation of “Pelosinomics”:

Gingrich also drew enthusiastic applause and laughter from the crowd as he reflected on the “harsh and hostile” rhetoric of the Senate campaign, adding, “I was trying to think of a phrase that would be positive and happy that would apply to Harry”:

The former Speaker offered his enthusiastic support for Angle on an issue that is near and dear to his heart, the ideal of American Exceptionalism:

Gingrich went on to explain what he believes that means and how it differentiates America in the political history of the world:

Later in his remarks, Gingrich compared Obama with President Jimmy Carter, who he said also had an economic plan consisting of “redistribution of misery.” The former Speaker went on to say that without Carter, though, America would not have gotten Ronald Reagan, and recalled a statement from the 40th president’s campaign trail.

“One of Reagan’s campaign lines was when your brother-in-law loses his job, it’s called a recession,” Gingrich repeated. “When you lose your job, it’s called a depression. When Jimmy Carter loses his job, it’s called a recovery.

“Any of you who would like to substitute Reid for Carter, there’s a sort of parallel,” Gingrich joked.