No More Mr. Nice Guy: Gingrich Says He’ll Hit Romney ‘Every Day’
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Jessica McGowan/Getty Images(INDEPENDENCE, Iowa) — After a bruising series of attack ads took a toll on his GOP poll standings, Newt Gingrich now says he will, “draw a very clear contrast” with Mitt Romney with his own negative ads. The former House speaker — who had boasted of the positive campaign he’s run to date — now says he’ll hit Romney “every day” after Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses, Gingrich tells ABC News.
“Everything we say will have Romney’s quote, Romney’s videotape, Romney’s record; it’ll all be based explicitly on Romney,” Gingrich said in an interview in Independence, Iowa.
Gingrich has said repeatedly that Republicans should aim their attacks at President Obama, not fellow Republicans. But after getting hammered by millions of dollars in negative ads, Gingrich says he will now return fire, targeting Romney over and over again.
“He set the tone of the campaign,” Gingrich said. “By going after me negatively and dishonestly.”
But won’t his plan violate Gingrich’s promise to run a positive campaign?
“Well, if the facts are negative, then that tells you about his career,” Gingrich said.
Even if Romney wins Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich said he cannot win the Republican nomination.
“Romney is, in the end, in a culturally hopeless position,” Gingrich said. “He’s a Massachusetts moderate in a conservative party.”
Asked directly whether Romney can win the nomination, Gingrich said, “No. The minute people understand his record, it becomes not him.”
“If he wins here, he’s going to win with what, 20 percent of the vote, 22 percent. That means he’ll have spent about 400 per vote,” Gingrich said. “That means, 77 percent of the votes will be not Romney.”
And while Gingrich says he has given Romney a free pass so far, he plans a new, aggressive effort to “draw a very clear contrast with Romney every day.”
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