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Romney unleashes barrage of attacks against Gingrich

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January 24, 2012|By Brian C. Mooney and Michael Kranish

In Mitt Romneys public comments, the campaigns new advertisements, and… (Joe Raedle/Getty Images )

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney tried to bounce back from his South Carolina defeat by going on his sharpest attack yet against Newt Gingrich, assailing the former speaker of the House in last night’s debate as someone who “resigned in disgrace’’ and launching television ads that accused him of having “cashed in’’ on his connections.

The tactic came at what could be a make-or-break moment for Romney, testing the limits of his taste for an all-out political brawl, which is considered outside the comfort zone of the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney, who supporter Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey said on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ must overcome being very reserved, adopted the approach as Gingrich surges in Florida, a diverse state that mirrors the nation in key voting groups and that is considered a crucial state for Romney.

“I learned something from that last contest in South Carolina, and that was, I had incoming from all directions, was overwhelmed with a lot of the attacks, and I’m not going to sit back and get attacked day in and day out without returning fire,’’ Romney said during the debate, when asked by moderator Brian Williams about his decision to go so strongly after Gingrich.

In Romney’s public comments, the campaign’s new advertisements, and events featuring surrogates, his campaign pushed hard on themes that Gingrich has been a Washington influence peddler, erratic and unreliable leader, and flip-flopper on significant issues.

Earlier yesterday, Romney questioned whether Gingrich had engaged in “potentially wrong activity’’ through his consulting work and his campaign launched an ad that foreshadowed Romney’s assertion that Gingrich resigned in disgrace.

Gingrich responded by denying Romney’s charge that he had been a lobbyist for the quasi-governmental Freddie Mac, while acknowledging that his company had a $1.6 million contract for him to be a strategic adviser. Gingrich was reprimanded in 1997 by the House, including a majority of Republicans, and was fined $300,000 for making false statements about the status of a tax-exempt course he taught.

Gingrich, who led the Republican takeover of Congress in the 1994 elections and became speaker, resigned from Congress in 1998 after fellow Republicans signaled they would not support his effort to continue in the speakership.

Analysts said Romney had to show he was willing to throw some punches.