Newt

POLITICO's Ginger Gibson:

Newt Gingrich took the opportunity of being on Florida's space coast to revisit one of his favorite topics: space exploration.

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American," Gingrich said to applause.

He said the development would include commercial and private efforts, and will make apparent, "we clearly have the capacity that Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to us."

Gingrich also said he would push to develop propulsion technology that would get man to Mars.

He emphasized that it doesn't have to be expensive, exploration in partnership with private companies can lower the cost.

"If it's cheaper and it's faster and it works, do it," he said.

He also said launch areas should be capable of launching multiple spacecrafts in a day, like an airport.

"Does that mean I'm visionary? You betcha," he said