The Mitts Come Off: Romney Camp Slams Gingrich
December 8, 2011 | 9:54 AM
The Mitts are off.
With Newt Gingrich soaring in the polls and presenting a grave threat to Mitt Romney's bid for the GOP presidential nomination, the former Massachusetts governor has dispatched his allies to portray the former House speaker as an untrustworthy, self-aggrandizing, and irrational leader who is ill-suited for the presidency.
"The speaker is running as a reliable and trusted conservative leader.
What we're here to say, with reluctance, but clearly, is he is not a
reliable or trustworthy conservative leader," former Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri old
reporters on a conference call arranged by the Romney campaign.With Newt Gingrich soaring in the polls and presenting a grave threat to Mitt Romney's bid for the GOP presidential nomination, the former Massachusetts governor has dispatched his allies to portray the former House speaker as an untrustworthy, self-aggrandizing, and irrational leader who is ill-suited for the presidency.
After that bit of throat-clearing, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu ventured beyond the bounds of a typical political attack, signaling how seriously -- and, perhaps, desperately -- the Romney camp is taking Gingrich's rise. He called Gingrich's criticism of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan, beloved by most conservatives, "an effort of self-aggrandizement" and "the most self-serving anti-conservative thing one can imagine."
He all but called Gingrich crazy. Saying the attack on Ryan's plan is part of a pattern of unpredictable behavior that goes back to Gingrich's days as speaker, Sununu termed it "the most perfect example of irrational behavior that you do not want in the commander-in-chief.
"I don't think Newt Gingrich cares about conservative principles," Sununu said. "Newt Gingrich cares about Newt Gingrich."
It won't stop here. Romney's aides promised more conference calls like this one.
How will Gingrich respond? He has an disproportionate opinion of himself and a history of volcanic outbursts. But he was all gritted teeth and smiles Wednesday.
Gingrich told a National Journal/CBS News reporter traveling with his campaign that he was keeping to the high road. But he also noted that in the primary season so far, attacking fellow Republicans has not been a winning strategy. "Every time these guys have attacked each other, they've gone down," Gingrich said in an interview Thursday morning.
So I don't know that being the attack dog in the Republican party is necessarily an asset, you know a big asset," he said. "It's not a game I'm going to play."
Sununu and Talent said Romney is best suited to defeat President Obama. That claim is suddenly in doubt; a burst of polls this week show Gingrich not only leading Romney in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida, but he also has narrowed the gap in New Hampshire, a state Romney can't afford to lose. Remarkably, Gingrich is running as well as Romney against Obama in the swing state of Ohio.Caught off guard by the numbers, Romney's campaign is in a state of near panic. Through advertising and the remarks of another campaign ally, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the campaign has noted with a heavy hand that Romney has been married for more than 25 years. That is a not-to-subtle contrast to the oft-divorced Gingrich.
The question now: When does Romney himself attack Gingrich? And will the criticism hurt Gingrich or backfire on Romney? Two upcoming debates -- Saturday and later next week in Iowa -- could be a pivot point in the campaign.
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