Newt Gingrich, who has stayed out of commenting directly on the sexual harassment allegations facing Herman Cain, urged the businessman to respond to the claims against him and to make sure he’s accurate and forthcoming with the truth because he “owes the American people.”

“I think when you move from anonymity to a person standing up in that setting and saying something, so now there’s a real – there’s a person.  It’s not just some anonymous tip. Clearly Herman Cain has to answer the charges . He has to explain what happened.  He has to do so in a way that’s convincing ,and I think that that’s unavoidable,” Gingrich told Jake Tapper in an ABC News/Yahoo interview today.  “I think he both owes her that but he also owes the American people that and I hope he can do it well.  He’s a good friend, and I hope he has an answer that satisfies people he has to have an answer and it better be accurate because if it’s not accurate it won’t stand.”

Gingrich has experienced a recent rise in the polls, placing fourth with 12 percent in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last Friday.  The former speaker of the House acknowledged Romney will make it to the final two in the race for the GOP nomination, but Gingrich said his eye isn’t on the Massachusetts governor but instead he’s focusing on snatching the undecided voters.

“There’s a big opportunity for an alternative candidate. That doesn’t mean that Romney can’t get the nomination. He’s smart. He’s working hard. He has a lot of money, access to large amounts of money, and  he may be able to beat whoever ends up as the alternative.  In the end it comes down to sort of which of the guys do you want. He’s clearly one of the last two because of the sheer scale of his resources,” Gingrich said.  “My job I think is to reach out to the 75 or 80 percent who aren’t currently committed to Romney and say here’s a set of solutions that would actually get us back on the right track. If it succeeds, then Romney will have the problem of stopping me. I’m not worried about stopping Romney.  I’m worried about reaching that 75 or 80 percent who aren’t committed to him.”

Newt Gingrich painted himself as an alternative to Obama based on his commitment to enhance opportunities and incentives for those aiming to create jobs in this country.

“I like job creators.  I’m the opposite of Obama. I like people who create jobs,” Gingrich said. “I don’t believe in class warfare and I think in that context you’ll see a huge increase, in fact I tell people – the recovery becomes late on election night as people realize they’re going to have a new president with a new program and a new attitude.”

But while Gingrich is experiencing a bit of a boom, he acknowledged that he may be tested soon and his handling of that trial will predict how he’d perform as president.

“Sooner or later, something will happen and either I’ll be able to deal with it or I won’t. If I do then there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be the nominee and I just think that’s the nature of this business,” Gingrich said.  “If you can’t make it through the campaign, you probably can’t do a very good job as president.”