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Republican presidential hopeful and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks to overflow crowds at a Hilton Hotel on Nov. 25, 2011, in Naples, Florida.

Herman Cain's withdrawal from the Republican primaries on Saturday hit the field like a bolt of lightning, and the results have been surprising. According to RealClearPolitics, Newt Gingrich now leads the pack with 27 percent of the Republican vote.

With Jan. 3 less than four weeks away, a recent Iowa poll gives Gingrich a 45 to 50 percent chance of winning the state. Even Gingrich himself seems surprised. The Los Angeles Times recently quoted him as saying, "this is such a rapid change that we are having to rethink our own internal operations right now and where we are." Not a bad idea, considering the former Speaker of the House has yet to lay out a clear plan for what he would do if he were to win the office of President. Unemployment is down, but the economy remains one of the largest issues in the campaign.

WEIGH IN:

Does Gingrich have a more serious plan than last Thursday's suggestion that child labor laws should be amended so that "really poor children" who "have no habits of working" could work as early as nine years old? Do you think Gingrich will stay at the top of the Republican pack, and if not, what do you think it would take for him to stay in place?

Guest:

James Hohmann, national political reporter, POLITICO