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ABC News' Santina Leuci and Z. Byron Wolf report:

Sarah Palin's husband is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, Todd Palin told ABC News today.

But Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCain's 2008 Republican running mate, has yet to decide "who is best able to go up against Barack Obama," Todd Palin said.

Palin said he has not spoken to Gingrich or anyone from the former House speaker's campaign. But he said he respects Gingrich for what he went through in the 1990s and compared that scrutiny in public life to what Sarah Palin went through during her run for the vice presidency.

Todd Palin said he believes that being in the political trenches and experiencing the highs and lows help prepare a candidate for the future and the job of president.

He did not criticize any of the other candidates and said his "hat is off to everyone" in the Republican race.

But Todd Palin did point to last summer, when a large portion of Gingrich's staff resigned and the candidate was left, largely by himself, to run the campaign.

Gingrich's ability to overcome the obstacle and still move up in the polls showed his ability to campaign and survive, according to Todd Palin, who said Gingrich is not one of the typical "beltway types" and that his campaign has "burst out of the political arena and touched many Americans."