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WATERLOO, Iowa -- On the first day of the New Year, Newt Gingrich admitted to having been “Romney-boated” with the immense amount of negative ads being run against him, vowing that his campaign will run more contrast ads going forward.
Mitt Romney “didn't get rid of me, he just slowed me down,” Gingrich told reporters in Marshalltown, Iowa, Sunday afternoon. Asked whether he felt like he had been “swift-boated” by the barrage of ads run against him in recent weeks, Gingrich responded, “I feel Romney-boated” – a reference to the outside advertising campaign launched against Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004.
The former House Speaker even hinted that Romney was trying to buy the election.
“He would buy an election if he could,” Gingrich told NBC News. But he wouldn’t directly say Romney was attempting to buy the 2012 election. “Well I dunno, $3.5 million in negative ads, you tell me,” Gingrich continued.
Romney, campaigning on the opposite side of the Hawkeye State Sunday, pushed back against these allegations from the Speaker.
“Speaker Gingrich I think announced that he raised $10 million this quarter and he ought to be proud of that. We’re working hard to raise funds, as well, this is an election,” Romney said in Atlantic, Iowa. “However, that’s not being driven by money raised, its being driven by message connection with the voters, debate and um experience and I think that those are the features that are driving the campaign so far and I think they probably will be through the entire process.”
Gingrich told reporters his campaign would be increasing the number of positive yet contrast ads on television and radio moving ahead to better combat the negative attacks from his GOP rivals.
“If somebody spends $3.5 million lying about you, you have some obligation to come back and set the record straight,” the Speaker said after his campaign heavily underestimated the damage these ads could do.
The negative attacks have worked here in the first-in-the-nation caucus state: Gingrich dropped from first place in the Des Moines Register’s early December poll to fourth place in Saturday’s DMR poll. Romney now leads in Iowa, according to the new poll, with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum finishing ahead of Gingrich.
Gingrich told the standing-room only crowd inside LJs Neighborhood Bar and Grill here in Waterloo that not answering these negative ads was his biggest weakness.
“I am too reasonable and I should have responded to the negative ads two weeks earlier,” Gingrich said after an interesting exchange between himself and wife, Callista, when the Speaker was asked about his biggest weakness.
The crowd began to laugh after Gingrich and Callista looked at one another with smiles about Newt’s biggest weakness. “Go ahead,” Callista told him as many in the audience expected him to perhaps mention his infidelities years ago. Rather, Gingrich stayed the course and linked his weakness answer back to the negative ads.
The Speaker’s ‘Jobs and Growth Bus Tour’ continues Monday with four stops in Eastern Iowa on caucus eve.
NBC’s Garrett Haake contributed to this report.
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Wouldn't it be interesting if the Republican candidates for president were not allowed to say anything about the other candidates but had to try to get votes based on what they say about themselves and our present government. They might not have much to talk about if that was the case. It's too bad that money talks and BS walks.
Well put
McCain started this century with enforcing a group of no thinking Republicans to come forward such as Perry!
KARMA. Sucks when it happens to you, huh? Also, seems that Super PAC thing is a double edge sword.
I do believe that the tax hike on the rich will happen!
let the games begin.
Isn't Romney the guy who wanted to bet Perry 10,000 Dollars. He should pick Donald Trump as a running mate.
I expect to see Romney win the nomination. He is so unsure of anything he says
Romney will win .... and Obama's public approval rating is lower than any Pres in US history at the end of his 1st term?? IN HISTORY!!! OUCH.
That bodes well for Romney who hasn't even started to campaign against one of the most unpopular people in the US!!!
Oh WAAAAAAAAAAAA! Cry me a river!
Funny that Newt is not answering the ads from Paul or Romney. He just calls them lies. Notice how newt just mentions Romney's name concerning the ads? Paul has spent more $ on them than Romney but Newt dosen't mention Paul's involvement. Please tell us Newt what content in the ads are not truthful? Were you sanctioned more than $300 K and they are only reporting the $300 K in the ads?
Here's an idea, why not take all the money these clowns are making, dems as well as repub's, and apply it towards our national debt? Wouldn't that be more productive?
Excellent idea, but it would only help the working man and not the scum in washington get richer.
Well Newt - there are so many negative ads because you have more baggage affixed to you then Southwest Airlines. The man is a walking ethics violation and has no morals what-so-ever... he deserves whatever he gets
The winner in Iowa has never become the Republican nominee.....the winner in South Carolina has never lost the nomination. Those are facts, unlike the other crap I'm reading here.
Vegas is totally unbiased. They have Mitt as a 2/5 favorite to win the GOP. The closest is Paul at 21/2. That is a serious, serious favorite.
"Romney-boated?" Oh, p-u-l-e-e-z-e. Are these guys (all of them) really the best we have?!! Surely, America has better than any of these to lead us.
At this point in an incumbent's 1st term ... he usually holds at least a 20 point lead against his competition. But right now .... Barry and Mitt are even money?? Bad sign for the Dems!
RomneyBoated? Is Newt making a play on words of what the Republicans did to Kerry with Swiftboating? Are they admitting it was a pack of lies? We ain't seen nothing yet. Obama will be portrayed as the anti-Christ and the Republican nominee will be portrayed as grandma killing thugs before this election is over.
Kerry's 90 days in country hardly qualifies him as a war veteran. He made sure he hurt himself three times to get three purple hearts so he could run home and hide back in the U.S.A.
The odds that Romney gets the nod at the convention is slim to none. Newt is still the best choice and his keeping his word this time not running negative ads against his opponents. In twenty years people can change and can learn from their mistakes. I would rather take a chance on Newt that he has changed than Romney who is nothing more than Odumbo Jr.
Anybody picked for the GOP nominee will beat Odumbo and I would prefer somebody that can't be linked to anything Odumbo has failed at in any form. Romney can be, Newt can't.
A lot of liberals on here are going to look silly if Newt comes in higher than fourth and really stupid if he wins.
Negative ads do absolutley nothing to tell me what the person running them is about or what he stands for, whether its the candidate or one of his pac group paying for them.
I want to know what the candidates ideas and plans are, not he or she doesn't like about another candidate.
Poor Newter. Maybe this is what Callista needs to do with him.
His chickens are just coming home to roost. Remember GOPAC that he started several years ago? This really started the really negative campaigning. I really don't like the negative stuff but with Newter he deserves all he gets and then some.
Here is what I find unusual. We know virtually everything under the sun about each and every one of the GOP presidential candidates, I mean we know about their past and present personal lives all the good and all the bad stuff to date. What exactly do we know about Barack Hussein Obama before he became a State Senator in Illinois?
This man is what is called in the business "a ghost." He says he went to this college and that college, yet has allegedly sealed all his college records. Why? If he was a student there and had good grades, what does he have to hide? Look at any other past POTUS and their education is an open book, but not Obama's Again WHY? Proving the citizenship of any past POTUS was never an issue for them. WHY? What "almost" surfaced about Obama that he didn't want us to find out? While I would love to believe that Obama is squeaky clean and has never even thought about cheating on his wife, one must ask, what about past girlfriends at the very least? Yet there is not one "female" that has come forth and bragged about dating Obama in high school or college. WHY? Not one former classmate from any school has come forth and said; Barry Obama, Oh yes I knew him and went to school with him." I have been out of school since the 1970's and can produce a dozen or more people who know me in high school and college and I did not turn out to be POTUS, yet none can be found to say the same about POTUS Obama? I don't know about the rest of you but I find that very strange and a bit scary!What is scarier yet is the fact that those who do appear to know him are either admitted terrorists like Ayers or radicals to say the least like his pastor Wright!
What have we learned about Obama since he has been POTUS? He will give us anything we don't want like Obamacare? Is that really a good thing? Anything that goes wrong, even three years after he took office as POTUS is; (a) still Bush's fault or; (b) the GOP's fault (even when it is the Democrats that shoot down his idea like his Jobs Bill which is yet to make it out of the Democratically held senate.) So from this one can surmise that POTUS Obama has a sociopathic and narcissistic personality (look it up it fits to a him like a glove.) The American people are easily lead astray if they are even seriously considering re-electing this Sociopathic and narcissistic ghost to lead this country again. Obama will (and has) throw anyone under the proverbial bus to save himself and has demonstrated that very clearly in the past. He is afraid of making decisions that may have a direct negative impact on him. When he is forced to make a decision that could have direct negative impact on him, he does it through many different channels and makes sure that it is worded so that he can always say, I was misunderstood, I said capture or kill not kill on site.
As for the GOP what can one expect. They are not ghosts, Their lives are very open to the public (just ask Herman Cain.) Apparently Herman Cain was seen as a real threat to Obama's re-election and as such Chicago style politic were used at their finest to get rid of him. One must remember that this is exactly how Obama became a state senator in the first place! Will one ever be able to prove that Obama was behind it? NO! For what ever else negative I may think of Obama, he is not Nixon and will never be directly linked to improper dealings that he is likely behind. He knows how to shield himself well from those who would inquire as we all well know by now.
So it all boils down to this one thing" Four more years of a person who we know and will never know anything about running the most powerful country in the world and what we do know is that economically we are worse off now than we were 3 years ago. Four more years to watch this Ghost destroy the very fabric of America in the name of Change and Hope?" Or, one of the Devils that we do know and can find out most anything we want to about. It is your choice America. As for the Newt, "MOST" of what Romney is saying is true. The only thing I have to say about it is that it is sad that Romney seems to think the Newt is such a threat that he must resort to mud slinging to try to win. In my mind Romney just slipped another notch in terms of morality and treating his fellow man as he himself would want to be treated. He definitely is not appearing as the person I would want to represent America and our way of life. Will the Newt retaliate with mud slinging of his own? Most likely as it is easier than defending himself. Meanwhile the GOP can kiss their hopes of having a viable Presidential candidate down the tubes as they will destroy themselves from within and Obama will simply sit back and laugh at them like the bunch of fools he is playing them for.
Same old rehash of right wing BS. Yawn!
The only thing down the tubes is Obama's public approval rating. Believe me ... Barry's not laughing. He's trying to figure out how to get himself out of the crap he has put himself in by not living up to any of his 2008 campaign promises, but instead taking the country down farther than it's ever been.
Both parents were documented communists. Would you expect anything less from Obama? He doesn't have to speak the truth...he doesn't have to adhere to truth...he won't even have to say anything remotely close to truth or honesty during the election process....because he has the media on his side. He will attack, rather than defend, because he has nothing TO defend....he's a failure. So his whole approach will be, "But they're a bigger failure than I am". I hope the country wakes up. I'll vote for an orange peel against this socialistic, communist nut job. If I hear "fair" one more time, I'll puke. It's not about "fairness" with Barrack Hussein....it's about "redistribution". And if anyone can name me one country on the planet who has done well under that structure, then I'm all ears. Wake up, people....stop thinking about "what this country can do for you", and start thinking about what's best for this country. (Selfish, lazy little brats!!)
Sharky,
Yes isn't it a shame when the truth about a liberal candidate keeps surfacing instead of going away as you want? I mean it would appear, that in your world, all is fair in politics when it comes to bashing the GOP. However! Stop the press, ban free speech, whatever, just don't keep bringing up the truth about a Democrat, especially the Ghost masquerading as POTUS AKA POTUS Obama!
Keep fiddling along side Obama Sharky, as Rome burns! You appear to be a good little sheep and Obama is no doubt proud of you. Nero was said to be insane. Obama is a politician with his own agenda. What is your excuse?
Gingrich along with Lee Atwater/Karl Rove perfected the art of sleazeball politics. You reap what you sow.
..or it could be that people realize that newt, the snake (wow, two reptiles in one) is a total scumbag (ask the wives he's cheated on) and shouldn't be elected to anything...
..or it could be that people realize that newt, the snake (wow, two reptiles in one) is a total scumbag (ask the wives he's cheated on) and shouldn't be elected to anything...
Gingrich, if he becomes the Republican nominee, will hand the 2012 election to Obama.
I don't think so - Gingrich has more brains than Obama and if the America people let Obama run the country again you might as well give the government everthing you own. People wake up and really see what is really going on. The Obama health is NO good and I don't want anyone telling if I should live or die.
I don't think so, I think the Obama and his people are scared of Gingrich and are not telling the truth. Obama is not for the PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES. Remember Obama is the one who said American people are lazy. I don't know about you - I work about 60-70 hours a week. Obama is stealing the TAX payers money and giving it AWAY. We are paying for all of his VACANTIONS.
DeMason...Whats really scary is that you actually are allowed to vote!!!
No, Gingrich was "GINGRICH BOATED", this turd finds it convenient to forget his corrupt, crooked background, and his resignation in disgrace from public office. I'd like to be a fly on the wall and here the deals this thief has made with Corporate big business and the Koch boys.
Corruptions - Read and understand everything you read - don't believe everthing you see or hear from people saying to make up lies to destroy people life. If you are happy with Obama - then you deserve everthing coming to you.
DeMason...Save your nonsense for people who believe the same crap your spinning. No one else will. Where were you when this crook paid a $300,000 fine, apologized to his fellow republicans and resigned before his own congressional party members had him removed? You obviously have been drinking to much FOX brewed TEA.
All I see is a President who never in the White House and putting down AMERICAN PEOPLE. Wake up.
I don't recall seeing ANY pro-Gingrich posts, so he must be buying the few votes he is getting.