A front-page editorial in the New Hampshire Sunday News backing Newt Gingrich in the upcoming 2012 GOP primary election was the lead topic of many network television talk shows Sunday morning, with one host calling the endorsement “a major prize of this campaign season.”

The newspaper's endorsement, declared by Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid, also sparked reaction among the GOP candidates.

“With today's endorsement by one of the country's most important conservative barometers, the Manchester Union Leader, the paper that was among the first to champion Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich has solidified his hold as the conservative frontrunner in the 2012 presidential race,” the Gingrich campaign said in a written statement.

“We are honored to have the endorsement of the Union Leader,” Gingrich's New Hampshire state director Andrew Hemingway told NBC News Sunday morning. “This is an enormous boost to our campaign and further proof that the people of New Hampshire are wanting substance and solutions over sound bites and pandering.”

Campaign staff for the current leader in the polls in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney, did not weigh in. The campaign put out an email blast that focused on President Barack Obama's track record on job creation, criticizing him for “not leading on spending.”

But Romney campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho declined to comment on the Gingrich endorsement.

Stands out from crowd

McQuaid appeared for about 45 minutes on C-Span's “Washington Journal” program Sunday morning, being interviewed by host Paul Orbel about the endorsement and taking calls from viewers across the U.S. and overseas.

“We've known Newt probably longer than any of the other candidates,” said McQuaid on C-Span. “Certainly longer than some, and we've watched him and the others, and we've had them in. We've watched a lot of the so-called debates, which were really Q & A's, and I thought it was pretty clear that the guy who stands out from the crowd is Mr. Gingrich.”

In an appearance on CNN's “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Union Leader editorial page editor Andrew Cline was interviewed about the endorsement.

“Right now, we're in a lot of trouble in this country,” said Cline. ”We need a candidate that is bold in his leadership, that has a vision for where he wants to take us as a country and knows how to get there.”

Also on “State of the Union,” The Hill's A.B. Stoddard said, “This really propels Newt Gingrich into the top of the race and makes him a real threat to Romney.”

On the same program, Time magazine's Michael Scherer said it is “a conservative credential at a key time for him.”

Santorum, Huntsman

Two other candidates were in the Granite State as news of the endorsement broke Sunday.

“The Union Leader's endorsement would have of course been welcomed; however we feel this race is going to be won by the candidate without a questionable past, who has the substance, the consistent record of results and the ideas to restore America's greatness,” said Mike Biundo, national campaign manager for former Sen. Rick Santorum, who appeared at Charmingfare Farm in Candia on Saturday.

“Rick is running a traditional New Hampshire style, door-to-door, town-hall-to-town-hall grassroots campaign,” said Biundo, a New Hampshire native. “We are looking forward to a positive result on January 10th here in New Hampshire.”

Appearing at the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman told a national television audience that he feels the endorsement is a sign that the GOP race is tightening up as the Jan. 10 primary date draws closer.

During a live interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Huntsman said, “Once again it proves, Chris, how fluid and unpredictable New Hampshire is. People are just beginning to pay attention and coalesce around the candidates. I think, more than anything else — I mean, a month ago for Newt Gingrich to have been in the running to capture the Manchester Union Leader endorsement would have been unthinkable. So, I think it reflects, more than anything else, the fluidity, the unpredictability of the race right now.”

An Editorial: For President, Newt Gingrich