Romney Calls Gingrich 'Erratic,' Compares Him to a Pinball Machine - East Idaho News
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Romney Calls Gingrich ‘Erratic,’ Compares Him to a Pinball Machine

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GETTY P 011712 RomneyGingrichSCDebate?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1327339048029Charles Dharapa-Pool/Getty Images(TAMPA, Fla.) — Mitt Romney continued to intensify his attacks on Newt Gingrich on Monday, calling the former House speaker “erratic” and comparing him to a “pinball machine.”

“I think as you look at the speaker’s record over time, it’s been highly erratic,” said Romney during a press conference following a campaign event in Tampa. “You know, he voted in favor of establishing the Department of Education, and yet he gets in a debate and says we should get rid of the Department of Education and send all the education issues back to the states. He’s opposed vehemently to the Massachusetts health care system, and yet just a couple years ago wrote about what a suburb system it was.”

“He’s gone from pillar to post almost like a pinball machine, from item to item in a way which is highly erratic,” said Romney. “It does not suggest a stable, thoughtful course which is normally associated with leadership.”

Romney, in renewing his request for Gingrich to not only release the reports from his years at mortgage giant Freddie Mac but to also return the estimated $1.7 million he was paid by the company, warned against an “October surprise.”

“I think it’s an appropriate that people should know if there’s going to be an October surprise,” said Romney. “And in the case of the speaker, he’s got some records which could represent an October surprise. We could see an October surprise a day from Newt Gingrich.”

“I’m calling again on Speaker Gingrich to do two things, one release all of the work product associated with his work at Freddie Mac and also return the funds he made from Freddie Mac,” said Romney. “I wouldn’t normally have suggested other than he was the one who said if you made money on this failed model that you ought to return that money.”

Romney also suggested that Gingrich was in the position to warn Americans about the looming housing crises and should have, “communicated that to the nation.”

Romney’s remarks about Gingrich came after he hosted a roundtable meeting with eight Florida residents who have been hurt by the flailing housing market in Florida, a  meeting that Romney quipped Gingrich should have joined.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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