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SPARTANBURG, SC -- Mitt Romney's campaign launched a barrage of attacks against Newt Gingrich just three days before South Carolina's primary amid signs the former House speaker could threaten Romney's bid for his third straight win in the primary cycle.
The former Massachusetts governor led his campaign in opening a fusillade against Gingrich, who's persisted at or near the top of the polls in tests of Saturday's first-in-the-South primary.
In a sign of how seriously his campaign is taking Gingrich as a threat, Romney broke from his usual form on the campaign trail -- which usually involves attacking only President Obama -- to instead deliver a rebuke of Gingrich's claims on his record on job creation.
"The speaker the other day at the debate was talking about how he created millions of jobs when he was working with the Reagan administration. Well, he'd been in Congress two years when Ronald Reagan came into office, " Romney said. "That'd be like saying 435 congressmen were all responsible for those jobs. Government doesn't create jobs. It's the private sector that creates jobs. Congressmen taking responsibility or taking credit for helping create jobs is like Al Gore taking credit for the Internet."
Romney's words were just one part of an offensive that extended to his surrogates, who hosted a conference call and launched web videos questioning Gingrich's leadership abilities.
First Thoughts: Newt-mentum returns?
The assault began earlier this morning with a web video released by the Romney campaign entitled "Undisciplined Leader," in which former New York Rep. Susan Molinari, who served with Gingrich in the 1990s, delivered the first blow.
"I served with Newt Gingrich in Congress. Newt Gingrich had a leadership style that can only be described as leadership by chaos,” Molinari said in the video. "I worry about the Republican Party’s chances to defeat President Obama if Newt Gingrich is the nominee."
On a conference call with reporters later in the morning, former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, another Romney supporter, continued the attack, and warned that if Gingrich were to become the Republican nominee it would hurt the party.
"Each one of us [who served with Gingrich] has personal stories we can tell about going home and having to clean up after our speaker," Talent said. "It had an impact on the 1996 presidential election and, if he's the nominee, it will have an impact on the 2012 election and the impact's not going to be good for the conservative movement and the Republican Party."
If this all sounds familiar, it might be because the Romney campaign employed the exact same tactics following the first surge in the polls Gingrich had enjoyed in Iowa in early December. At that time, Talent and Former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu lanced Gingrich for "off-the-cuff thinking" and "irrational behavior" on a similar conference call, with Sununu continuing to voice the attacks for days in interviews on television and in print.
Related: Santorum targets Gingrich in S.C. stumping
It now appears those attacks may continue. Today, the Romney campaign confirmed reports that Sununu will travel to South Carolina on Thursday to campaign for Romney.
This afternoon, the Gingrich campaign responded to Romney's comments on job creation.
""I fully expect the Romney campaign to be unendingly dirty and dishonest for the next 4 days because they are desperate, they thought they could buy this. They discovered that they can't buy this. I think they have internal polling that shows them loosing. I think they will do anything to try at any level and I need your help. People power will be money power. And I need your help," the candidate said at a town hall meeting.
"If your curious of what kind of leadership style Romney would use as president, today we are seeing what panic looks like," Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News.
NBC'S Alex Moe contributed to this report.
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These fools are creating more and more video/sound bites to help the Democrats win I can't stop laughing. I should contact the DNC and ask if I can join the post production team to create the advertisements they need to win. I would have a difficult time doing it without falling out of my chair. This stuff is priceless.
I will remember that one in November. That's too much. LMAO With tears.
Something with inflatable dolls & conservatives, strange fetish
Conservatives had an "inflatable cowboy" & look at the damage he did to our country
Now they've got "inflatable candidates" that inflate the completely opposite positions they've previously supported & now don't
Conservatives love inflatable dolls,,,, You can fill them with hot rhetoric & they are brainless, you can scream at them & they don't scream back
On the bottom is the corporate logo
It is so easy to pull a Liberal Chain it is like playing with Children.
Kudos to the Tea Party
Carl,,, You've over inflated your ego ---- The tea party is irrelevant to me. Nothing but a bunch of False Flag False Patriots damaging our country
It looks like your entire Tea Party's ego's are over inflated... You're TP candidates aren't in favor any longer among conservatives
I like that idea Jim, inflatable dolls. I think I could do something with that and a few masks. Throw in a little animation, a super pac add. Don't get me going. Tears from laughter will ruin my keyboard.
So Carl, you liken "pulling a chain" to playing with children?
Wow, you need help. Lock your kids up folks, this one is out in the open.
Obama represents a perfect example of a Failed Administration. They need crooks like him in Chicago since they just sent one to Prison.
Carl Hubert represents a perfect example of someone who truly thinks that anyone, including his preacher, family and politicians, give a rats ass what he thinks. He's probably the insane grandpa in a wheelchair that his family just puts up with because he has not managed to pass on yet. Probably screams at the wall too.
I believe that there's much more to be heard about WHY ROMNEY ONLY PAYS 15% OF HIS INCOME IN TAXES. Although he hasn't said so personally, there's a tax loophole that neither Democrats nor Republicans have touched that allows him to say that what he earns comes from investments only, not from his labor. When America hears about how Romney is able to line his pockets with a tax loophole designed for people just like him, it will make the middle class boil.
For all the Teapublicans who endlessly assert that hard work and dedication is what propels people in our free market economy to achieve success, this tax loophole is a perfect example of how our tax code is, in many ways, written to benefit the 1%. Romney is a perfect example of someone who's benefited from that rigged system.
Which would be a stronger opponent for Obama--the flip-flopping Gordon Gekko or the serial wife cheater who was forced to pay $300K to escape his ethical transgressions? I'm happily starting to think it won't matter!
I say we all vote for Ron Paul , or is this country not worth saving?????
Not until he studies a few more text books on economics & has another 10 years to observe economic issues to apply what he's learned
Just one economic text book doesn't cut the mustard on economics
And not until Libertarians come back to their old moderate side & create a 3rd Party for Libertarians instead of surrendering to the far right & the GOP
Wake up America: You ben Dupd by the Rpublicans and teabaggers party. They want to take away your SS and Medicare. They want to take away your food stamp cause you where fired from your job, They want to cut funding for heating oil so they can freze out the old people, In other words they want you to die if you have no Ins.I believe this was done in Nazi Germany in 1933 get rid of all the old and sick and gays.They allow big Corps to steal billion in your retirment funds. OF couse we have Democrats losing billions of IMF run by Corine. It will b the American tax payr that will bail them out.Funnu about all the true Christains or southern Pastor. You preach about Love and Help your fellow man and then you preach Hate all the Muslims that you all hate. Wate up America, you been bushwacked into thinking your party is for everyone. Raise up your self conscious and VOTe FOR OBAMA 2012
As far as that religion thing goes, Social Conservatives completely trashed the "Sermon on the Mound"
It appears that they are the ones with the war against Christianity & against the American Family
Now that Mr. Romney has admitted to an approximately 15% effective tax rate, what possible reason remains for his refusal to honor the American custom, allegedly initiated by his father, for aspirants to the Oval Office to disclose their tax returns?
Because Mr. Romney stubbornly refuses to take the advice to be aboveboard in this matter of disclosure of tax returns by Mr. Christie and others in his corner, and because Mr. Romney is willing to take a lot of heat for refusing to disclose his tax returns, the reasonable inference is that Mr. Romney has something or much to hide.
So what is Mr. Romney hiding? More examples of financial arson? Aggressive tax avoidance? Tax evasion?
Whatever Mr. Romney is hiding as potentially damaging to his campaign will continue to be a problem, whether revealed or unrevealed by him. Again, it is reasonable to infer that Mr. Romney prefers to avoid the embarrassment of disclosure. Unrevealed, the tax returns will be a constant source of speculation of wrong-doing being covered-up.
In any event, opposition research will likely expose what Mr. Romney hides. Assuredly, the results of opposition research will not be disclosed unless and until Mr. Romney secures the Republican nomination, and then only after time has run out for an alternative Republican candidate to campaign effectively.
Did you care that Kerry paid the same tax rates, not to mention he eludes taxes and tried to harbour a boat in Rhode Island instead of Massachusett's to avoid taxes...
Of course you didn't because it really isn't about taxes or money, just politics...
Man, if only squirmy hermy was still in the mix...
We'd REALLY be having a time !!!
Mitt is too rich to be president. Now of course Kerry wasn't...And Kerry (although he married into it) is worth billions compared to Romneys millions...
Just another one of those liberal hypocrisies...
I'm pretty close to know who I'm voting for. Just need to see a few more of these idiots and their lies and rants and it'll seal the deal for me. They're talking loud an saying nothing that will benefit me.
This is a thoroughly unlikeable collection of political opportunists and/or radicals. Romneys candidacy is the result of a life of privelidge and opportunity. He apparently will say or do anything in order to be elected he was born and raised a moderate Republican and he has been one until this election cycle. With the reversal of all his previous beliefs and positions he has shown himself to be a man with no convictions other than that he deserves to be president. With Huntsman out the rest of the field is an embarassment. Gingrich is an opportunist of a magnitude rarely seen on the American political scene becoming a multimillionaire trading influence for position and affixing his name to anything from which he can acquire money. Paul is a major loon who would return us to the Articles of Confederation and establish the primacy of the states. Perry is a simpleton and Santorum is as vile a human being as one could ever encounter. The fact that this is the best the GOP can put forward is pathetic and speaks to their lack of vision and growth.
jkh
To my fellow Americans we here in California had a chance to elect a man for Governor named Tom Mcclintock who was a honest man that told the truth about what was wrong and what needed to be done to fix California but we voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger and that was a big mistake now we the American people have a chance to vote for a person that would be good for the Country and I hope we all can see what needs to be done and vote for Newt Gingrich to be the next President of this Great Country of ares we are Americans before we are Democrats or Republicans
Newt Gingrich could never win as President. His career has been marred with scandal, he is too undisciplined and unpredictable, he is a bomb thrower and lacks control of his own feelings. These are not qualities that qualify him to win the nomination.
You vote for a person that can do the best for the country and Newt will do the best for the country that is all I am saying you may not like things that he has done in his personal life but he does do what is right for the country and that is what we need at this time and place
Newt's time is now. Pray the good people of South Carolina STOP Romney's March to the Sea!
Vote for Newt Gingrich? Are you kidding me?!?! I am surprised that a social conservative like Sarah Palin could even think of endorsing Newt Gingrich. Saw an article published in August 2010 Esquire magazine which said when he was asked how he was able to reconcile giving speeches on family values when he was having marital affairs Newt Gingrich said, " It doesn't matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There's no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn't matter what I live." Sounds a lot like something we'd hear from Nancy Pelosi- arrogant.
Speaker Gingrich is a very smart man who would be fabulous in the White House as an advisor but not one who handles campaigning well- just look how he reacted after Iowa. He looked like an angry, vindictive little man- not presidential in the slightest. Is that what we want to put up against Mr.Snake Smooth Obama? It would be like a 2008 rematch- short, dumpy, career politician white guy vs. Obama.
Last thought is that Speaker Gingrich seems to be a very divisive person who doesn't seem to have a lot of loyalty from people around him (as evidenced by his campaign staff leaving him) and doesn't seem particularly liked by very many people that he has worked with in the past (just google some of the comments about him from former colleagues). President Obama is viewed by many as a likeable person. Doesn't Newt really sound like the Republican candidate we want to put up against President Obama?
I hope people ask themselves before they vote- do you want to win the presidential debates or the election?
I want to win the election. NO to Newt
Amy,
I agree. Why would anyone listen to a word Sarah Palin has to say. She has raised a completely disfunctional family and would be no better as president. Newt is not a likeable guy and would lose to Obama solely for that reason. He is also obese and dumpy looking. He obviously can't control his appetite, whether it be for sex, food or fame. He is a supreme hypocrite to boot. That quote you recited is nothing short of astounding. Why would anyone want a depraved serial adulterer, such as Gingrich, to lead the nation? Maybe our brain-dead nation deserves him.
Newt and Mitt are pigs! The (GOP), elephant is suppose to represent strength and wisdom. These two political swine, have turned something good into the most gross garbage event, in modern politics.
Ok Charlie O How is all that Hope and Change doing you yea that is what I though
Bush Jr had 8 years of change with no hope and where did that get people?
Many of the jobs created in the "private sector" are there because of local, state and federal government contracts. It is a very symbiotic relationship where it is very difficult to say which is the leach. So let's cut the high and mighty crud about how only private businesses "create" jobs. It is equally disingenuous for Gingrich to pound Romney about Bain Capital and its effects on people or America's economy.
When Romney was in charge at Bain, Gingrich was rising in power in Congress. If Gingrich had been representing Americans instead of gathering his political power then he would have seen and recognized what Bain and other companies like it were doing in chopping up American businesses to, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "creating value." Instead he championed the Romney form of capitalism with his "Contract on America." Gingrich and Romney didn't care then what the collateral damage was to America or American jobs and they don't care now. For the last 30 years only the rich have been getting richer.
www.nationalgunrights.org/pres_files/Romneyflier.pdf
Why is no one mentioning this little fact. It would sink the Romney boat faster than an Italian cruise ship
Wow. That's bound to come up sooner or later. Shouldn't you tell Newt?
Too perfect. Not only has the Nootster sealed the deal with the Exalted Dragons of the Confederacy, which should net him significant single digits nationwide, but the can o' worms he opened on predatory capitalists like Mitt Romney ( then tried unsucessfully to close it ) should make it an epic, and hopefully zero-sum donnybrook for the GOP. Happy dissipation, and may the worst loser lose ( actually, here's a fervent hope that they both lose ).
Offshore accounts? Romney? Is anyone but ABC on this story?
Always fun to watch the children fighting.... pass the popcorn, and pull up a chair.
Why isn't anyone questioning Romneys' birth ceertificate...His father was born and raised in Mexico...He has plenty of family that still lives in Mexico...Is he legal...just asking?
Romney has about as much hispanic in him as the lone ranger and he just put a twist on it to get hispanic votes. I have never seen a hispanic mormon and i have been to salt lake city.
Fodder for Obama. These power mad egomaniacs are so concerned about their personal aspirations they could care less if their party regains the whitehouse or not. Didn't Ginrich promise he wouldn't attack other Republicans? Problem with this type of politics is that campaigns are based on bringing the other guy down, not on what makes you qualified to be elected. None of their campaigns have any fresh ideas or approaches. I really want the Republicans to make my presidential vote a difficult decision. Doesn't look like that's gonna happen.
The U.S. does not need another serial adulterer as president. JFK and WJC were enough. Newt seems to have no control over appetite, whether it be for sex, food or fame.
Newt's time is now. Pray the good people of South Carolina STOP Romney's March to the Sea! Newt MUST win in SC or the Romney machine will be too much to overcome long-term.