Herman Cain was Newt Gingrich's "opening act" at a political rally in south Forsyth County this morning, Feb. 18. The former GOP presidential candidate said he's trying to convince Gingrich to adopt his "9-9-9" plan, but said Newt's own tax plan is the closest to his ideas.

Gingrich for his part said no matter what the "lamestream" media says, it's still anybody's race for the Republican nomination, citing his own and Rick Santorum's successes against Mitt Romney.

The former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives brought his daughter, Jackie Cushman, grandson, Robert, granddaughter, Maggie, and a friend of hers to the stage at South Forsyth High. The crowd started lining up at 7 a.m., surprising the Forsyth GOP organizers a bit. They were forced to turn away many people who drove from other North Georgia counties just to make room for Forsyth County voters who planned to be convention delegates.

Gingrich worked to compare and contrast himself with President Barack Obama, saying the president is "proud Obamacare extends insurance until you are 26. I'd like you to be able to get a job so you can buy your own insurance."

He told this audience that if you go out and look for oil, you'll find enough in the United States to make it energy independent. But he said the current administration works against using those resources.

He said his energy plan will create 1 million high paying jobs, developing the coal, oil natural gas, coal and other resources in the country and keep $500 billion at home. The $16 trillion or more in royalties to the government because the resources are on public lands is greater than the national debt, Gingrich said.

"So if you controlled spending, you have a huge increase in revenue with no tax increase because you now have American oil and American natural gas being developed in America," he said.