Gingrich has been leading the charge against Romney’s record as chief executive of Bain Capital, an equity investment, venture capital, and leveraged buyout firm that Romney led in the 1990s. Romney has pointed to the company’s success, such as Staples, arguing that his overall record there was one of job creation. But Gingrich has been highlighting the company’s history of slashing jobs at some firms.
That history is the same one that Democrats have been pressing against Romney in anticipation of a potential general-election matchup between him and President Obama. Gingrich, however, dismissed concerns that his assault was only feeding into the Democrats’ line of attack.
“I think it’s a legitimate question about exactly what happened, where did the money go, who got the money, and what happened to the people involved?” he said.
Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond confirmed today that Gingrich had served on the advisory board of Forstmann Little, a New York private equity firm that was founded in 1978 and also engaged in leveraged buyouts.
Hammond insisted there was no contradiction in Gingrich blasting Romney’s time at Bain, given the former speaker’s own history in the industry. Hammond said he did not know what years Gingrich served on the board or whether it was a paid position. Gingrich’s ties to Forstmann Little were first reported by The New York Times.
“It was an advisory board that met infrequently, as little as once a year, and Mitt ran Bain, so this would be a lot different,” Hammond said. “In no way does this excuse Mitt from having to answer questions about his career at Bain Capital.”
The former speaker’s assault marked a sharp reversal from his approach in Iowa, where Gingrich said he would not attack Romney or his other rivals, arguing that such attacks would only benefit Obama. But after a pro-Romney super PAC battered Gingrich with negative ads there, sending him plummeting in the polls, Gingrich said he decided to strike back against Romney.
“If somebody is going to crumble, they better crumble before the nomination,” Gingrich said. “I mean, you don’t want to end up in September with a nominee who hasn’t been tested and can’t stand it.”
