How will the next President of the United States ease the pain at the pump? One of the county's top political minds says the answer could decide if John McCain or Barack Obama is sworn into the Oval Office in January. 

Thursday former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was in Sioux Falls. Gingrich left the House of Representatives in 1999, but he's been getting a lot of political attention for his thoughts on the Presidential race and his plan to lower gas prices. 

What turned out to be a wild primary season for the Presidential candidates could also turn out to be a wild campaign season through November, according to former Speaker of the House and Republican Newt Gingrich. 

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich says, "I think it's wild. I think that who would have predicted a year ago that you would have Senator Obama as a first time Senator, and Senator McCain in the final round with each other." 

As for who will survive that wild ride, Gingrich says that could depend on the plan each candidate lays out when it comes to an issue that hits Americans' pocketbooks...gas prices. 

Gingrich says, "I think if things don't change and oil stays at 140 to 150 dollars a barrel this will absolutely be the biggest issue this fall." 

Gingrich has shared his own plan to stop the spiraling prices on national talk shows. That plan is to drill for oil in America. Gingrich has even started a petition called "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less." And Gingrich says Americans should band together like they did in the 1940's during World War two to solve the issue. 

Gingrich says, "We have a potential for wind power right here in the Dakotas, we have a potential for solar power, we have a potential for hydrogen, we have a potential for nuclear, we need to have a World War II-style Manhattan Project. Go out every single one of us simultaneously and liberate ourselves from foreign dictatorships and I think you could bring down the price of oil dramatically with that kind of approach."

The former Republican Speaker of the House believes Barack Obama has a slight edge over John McCain in the race for the White House right now, but he says that could change as the election gets closer.