Newt’s campaign sends along this photo of the considerable turnout for his speech in New Hampshire last night:

Judging from the “halo effect”of the lighting, perhaps we’ll need a “Is Newt the Messiah” page to go with the “Is Barack Obama the Messiah” page.

Our Brian Bolduc notes that a campaign that was once nearly “an army of one” has suddenly grown a coherent organization in that state: “the ex-speaker hired his state director, Andrew Hemingway, less than two months ago. Since that time, however, the campaign has opened five offices, added 13 paid staffers, and recruited over 1,000 volunteers. By knocking on doors and making calls, the campaign has contacted 15,000 people, Hemingway tells National Review Online.”

Meanwhile, USA Today offers some encouraging news for Republicans overall and particularly good news for Newt:

Since the heady days of 2008, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States Poll finds the number of voters who identify themselves as Democratic or Democratic-leaning in these key states has eroded, down by 4 percentage points, while the ranks of Republicans have climbed by 5 points.
Republican voters also are more attentive to the campaign, more enthusiastic about the election and more convinced that the outcome matters.
… In the swing states, Obama now trails former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney among registered voters by 5 points, 43% vs. 48%, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich by 3, 45% vs. 48%.
That’s a bit worse than the president fares nationwide, where he leads Gingrich 50%-44% and edges Romney 47%-46%

The swing states that USA Today polled are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

UPDATE: Seth Mandel wonders if the “Messiah lighting” is to cancel out the New York Times’ “Doomsday Lighting.”