Former  House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife,  Callista, made the case tonight that Republican presidential nominee  Mitt Romney was now the man carrying the baton of President Ronald  Reagan.

Quite  often on the campaign trail, Gingrich claimed to be the heir of Reagan.  But tonight in the couple's speech, Gingrich clearly was, like a runner  in a relay, passing the Reagan baton on to Romney.

Not only did the couple make the case that Romney was the new heir, but  Gingrich and his wife effectively tied the current occupant of the  White House, President Barack Obama, to the 1-term presidency of Jimmy  Carter, who lost decisively to Reagan. With line after line, Gingrich  compared Obama and Carter even as he made the claim that Romney was set  to repeat what Reagan did during that 1980 election.

The  bitterness of the campaign was gone. Tonight with no bluster, so much  Gingrich's trademark, Gingrich did what the party wanted: a bringing of  unity behind the GOP nominee. In much same way, former Pennsylvania  Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum did the same on Tuesday  night.

From  the Cornfield, with no red meat, but clearly with an eye on unity, Newt  and Callista made clear to the nation and their supporters that now is  the time to unite behind Romney as the party did behind Reagan.