According to a poll of National Journal insiders, this is the most coveted Republican endorsement of all — and no wonder. Chuck Norris’ endorsement of Mike Huckabee in 2008 helped to propel the former Arkansas governor to the top tier of presidential candidates. That oh-so-memorable “Chuck Norris approved” ad is still a fan favorite.

This election cycle, Norris has decided to throw his weight behind Newt Gingrich. In a newly published column on WND.com, Norris outlined why he’s chosen to support the former Speaker of the House:

[N]ow is not the time to be mincing through minutiae and infighting via typical partisan battles. Rome is burning, and we need to appoint the best firemen possible to rush in and put out her fury. What’s critical at this point is to appoint a commander in chief who can clearly lead America to a more solvent and secure future.

No man or candidate is perfect. We all have skeletons in our closet. If buried bones became unforgivable bones of contention, the world would never know or will never know another Benjamin Franklin, King David and others like them. We must remember that we’re electing a president, not a pastor or pope. And with the mainstream media and a billion-dollar Obama campaign coffer on the president’s side, we need a veteran of political war who has already fought Goliath, because he will be facing Goliath’s bigger brother. …

For my wife, Gena, and I, we sincerely believe former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the answer to most of those questions and deserves our endorsement and vote.

We agree with our friend and governor of the great state of Texas, Rick Perry, when he suspended his campaign and endorsed Gingrich, that Newt “has the heart of a conservative reformer.” We believe Newt’s experience, leadership, knowledge, wisdom, faith and even humility to learn from his failures (personal and public) can return America to her glory days. And he is the best man left on the battlefield who is able to outwit, outplay and outlast Obama and his campaign machine.

Personally, I think Allen West is the new Chuck Norris. (Seriously, substitute “Allen West” for “Chuck Norris” in your favorite Chuck Norris joke and see if it doesn’t make more sense!) Nevertheless, the Norris endorsement might actually matter more than most endorsements if for no other reason than that even voters who don’t pay close attention to who’s endorsing whom definitely know Norris’ name.

For old times’ sake, here’s the ad on behalf of Mike Huckabee:

Update: Because of a typo, this article originally misattributed the Chuck Norris column to “WMD.com” instead of “WND.com.” Kind of a consequential typo, especially given what the acronym “WMD” actually stands for! My apologies.