Newt Gingrich compares himself to a dead guy in ‘The Sixth Sense’

The Ticket

As a former college professor, Newt Gingrich is a self-described expert on just about everything, including military history, tax policy and even endangered tigers.

But the former House speaker might need to bone up on his movie trivia.

According to the Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs, the Republican presidential hopeful offered an odd cinematic analogy about his 2012 campaign while meeting with voters in Iowa on Monday:

Gingrich, who has lagged in most polls, said that his performances in recent presidential debates have generated new interest in his campaign. In the past month he has had more people donate to the campaign than in the previous three months, he told the crowd today.

Later in Maquoketa he compared himself to a character in the movie the "Sixth Sense," whom everyone else knew was dead but him. He said the "elite media" may have written off his campaign but he's the candidate with the most experience and solutions and that he believes the campaign will be resurrected.

But there's just one problem with Gingrich's comparison: Bruce Willis's character, whom the former speaker appears to be referring to, isn't resurrected in the film. He actually is dead--and presumably that was not the message Gingrich intended to convey about the state of his own struggling presidential bid.

Gingrich has enjoyed an uptick in the polls in recent weeks, after enduring a summer campaign implosion and cash shortage. A CBS News/New York Times poll released Tuesday found Gingrich in third place in the 2012 primary race, with 10 percent support nationally. He leads Rick Perry (who has 6 percent support) and Ron Paul (8 percent) and trails Herman Cain (25 percent) and Mitt Romney (21 percent).

In an interview with the Register, Gingrich said he hopes to place in the top three in Iowa, but if that doesn't happen, he said South Carolina will be his "firewall."

More popular Yahoo! News stories:

• Rick Perry hires Bush's 2000 campaign manager in staff shakeup

• Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain to spar in 'Lincoln-Douglas' debate

• Bachmann's ex-staff in New Hampshire calls campaign 'dishonest' and 'cruel'

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.