Alex Wong/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told Charleston, S.C., AM News he is “a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney” when he called into  the show today.

Gingrich was asked about his recent endorsement from the New Hampshire Union Leader Sunday. While the Union Leader issued strong support for Gingrich over other Republicans in the New Hampshire primary, it said Gingrich was by no means the perfect candidate.

But the endorsement gave Gingrich  a confidence boost, and he now claims he is  the most electable candidate in the 2012 presidential race.

“Anybody who is honest about it knows that no person except Christ has ever been perfect,” Gingrich said. “I don’t claim to be the perfect candidate. I just claim to be a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney, and a lot more electable than anybody else.

“I think on substance, we can compete with anyone, and I was thrilled to have the Union Leader’s endorsement. I think it means that we can have a very serious race with Mitt Romney in New Hampshire when people didn’t think that was possible,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich now calls himself the conservative alternative.

“We think there has to be a solid conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, and I think I’m the one candidate who can bring together national security, economic conservatives and social conservatives in order to make sure we have a conservative nominee,” Gingrich said.

The host told Gingrich some voters have a problem with Romney because he is “way too eager” and asked Gingrich if there was anything he wouldn’t do to become president.

“Sure, there’s lots of things I wouldn’t do to become president. I wouldn’t lie to the American people. I wouldn’t switch my positions for political reasons. It’s perfectly reasonable to change your position if facts change, if you see new things you didn’t see. Everyone’s done that. Ronald Reagan did it,” Gingrich said. “It’s wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based on your need of any one electorate because then people have to ask themselves, what will you tell me next time?”