ABC News Interview: Gingrich Says He’ll Hit Romney ‘Every Day’

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INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — No more Mr. Nice Guy. Newt Gingrich will “draw a very clear contrast” with Romney “every day” immediately after the Iowa caucuses Tuesday, the former House speaker told ABC News.
“Everything we say will have Romney’s quote, Romney’s videotape, Romney’s record; it’ll all be based explicitly on Romney,” Gingrich said in an interview in Independence, Iowa.
Gingrich has said repeatedly that Republicans should aim their attacks at President Obama, not fellow Republicans. But after getting hammered by millions of dollars in negative ads, Gingrich says he will now return fire, targeting Romney over and over again.
“He set the tone of the campaign,” Gingrich said. “By going after me negatively and dishonestly.”
But won’t his plan violate Gingrich’s promise to run a positive campaign?
“Well, if the facts are negative, then that tells you about his career,” Gingrich said.
Even if Romney wins Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich said he cannot win the Republican nomination.
“Romney is, in the end, in a culturally hopeless position,” Gingrich said. “He’s a Massachusetts moderate in a conservative party.”
Asked directly whether Romney can win the nomination, Gingrich said, “No. The minute people understand his record, it becomes not him.”
“If he wins here, he’s going to win with what, 20 percent of the vote, 22 percent. That means he’ll have spent about 400 per vote,” Gingrich said. “That means, 77 percent of the votes will be not Romney.”
And while Gingrich says he has given Romney a free pass so far, he plans a new, aggressive effort to “draw a very clear contrast with Romney every day.”
See ABC’s Interview with Newt Gingrich.
Earlier in the day, Gingrich flatly admitted he cannot win the Iowa caucuses and put the blame on millions of dollars in negative ads run against him here.
“I don’t think I’m going to win,” Gingrich told reporters. “But, on the other hand, if the Des Moines Register is right that it’s 41 percent potentially undecided, who knows what’s going to happen.”
In the ABC News interview, Gingrich also predicted a Romney victory in New Hampshire.
“I’m sure Romney will win” in New Hampshire, Gingrich said. “But we need to bring his margin down if we can. And we need to lay the case. In New Hampshire, you’re also laying the case for South Carolina and Florida and beyond.”
See more of from Iowa and ABC on World News with Diane Sawyer.

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What a bitter political fossil! And a hypocrite as well. They should cut loonies like Gingrich and Santorum out of this race. They’re an embarassment!
Posted by: RantAskew | January 2, 2012, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
The Grinch is dropping fast after quickly hitting the top. He will continue to fall as people see he is a corrupt insider of Washington. He cannot be trusted and will not make the big changes necessary to keep this country on track.
The fact is Ron Paul has a 30 year record of upholding individual freedom, rights, liberty, based on the Constitution. He opposes the corrupt over-powered Federal government with things like the privacy invasion of the TSA, the evil Patriot Act, the 4th amendment killing NDAA bill, the internet censorship bill SOPA, the racist and corrupt War on Drugs, and the unjust wars in the middle east.
Ron Paul is the only one fighting against those issues. Ron Paul is the ONLY vote that can beat Obama, pulling votes from dissatisfied Dems, the growing Independent population, and a growing portion of the Republicans. A vote for Paul is the ONLY vote for peace, prosperity and liberty.
Posted by: Mike Ikeo | January 2, 2012, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
So, nothing is really going to change. He’s going to be the vindictive, vicious maggot he’s always been.
Posted by: howdymo1 | January 2, 2012, 3:56 pm 3:56 pm
Newt is so PATHETIC.
Hey Newt, you dropped in polls because you are a loser.
Posted by: semby | January 2, 2012, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
Gingrich has said repeatedly that Republicans should aim their attacks at President Obama, not fellow Republicans. But after getting hammered by millions of dollars in negative ads, Gingrich says he will now return fire, targeting Romney over and over again._____________The smart way to go about this is for Gingrich to have his STAFF run the negative ads , say the negative statements and for he, himself to be positive, focusing only on Obama. This is what Romney is doing and this is why Gingrich is getting clobbered. If Gingrich himself goes negative he’ll be handing Romney the nomination.
Posted by: spike | January 2, 2012, 4:22 pm 4:22 pm
Oh boy !
Again this Ron Paul troll – like an army of identical zealots they harass everyone on the net.
Ron Paul is as creepy a politician as one can get – period !
He has been conveniently invoking his constitutional adherence to convince idiots of his rightfulness and hide real BS that he stands for.
What does he really stands for ?
Just silly epithets to hang on the ears of American public and especially the naive youth.
Gold Standard ? Yeah, abandon all the tools that the government has to control economy and put it in the hands of the metal producers in Russia and Africa.
Remove Medicaid !
Start being friends with Iran !
Castrate US military !
Sell narcotics in corner stores !
Blame US for all the troubles and wars !
Abandon all our allies and let them sort things out in the world ! Pheeew, can imagine what on earth will happen to all our suppliers ? Markets ? Bases ? Exports ?
Open conflicts will pop-up everywhere as few countries will battle for US place in the world.
Dollar will just be removed as a world currency – all the idiots that vote for him now will scream later.
Posted by: Jim111 | January 2, 2012, 4:30 pm 4:30 pm
Even if Romney wins Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich says he can’t win the Republican nomination.
—————-
Newt says Ron Paul can’t be nominee and he wouldn’t vote for him.
Now he says Mitt can’t be nominee.
He should just say he is anointing himself the nominee – wait he did say that.
Posted by: Yikes | January 2, 2012, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
Go for it, Newt! Mitt is a BIG PHONEY!!!
Posted by: Chad McConnell | January 2, 2012, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
This headline is GREAT! Positively Onion-worthy, lol.
“No more Mr. nice Newt?” When was there ever?
Give it up, Newt. Romney is going to be the man, as I have been predicting for months. The Obama team knows it, the GOP elite know it, anyone with half a brain knows it (which means a whole lot of Right-wingers still don’t know it;)
He is the ONLY even potentially electable candidate (and even HE is not electable in a national race with a split Right-wing and against Obama…come to think of of it, the GOP should just give up altogether and save themselves the cost of a campaign.)
But NEWT? Are you kidding me? This man who was essentially forced to resign as Speaker by his OWN party, he was such a liability? This man with 84 ethics charges who paid the largest fine ever levied by Congress to date? This serial adulterer and heartless hypocrite? This professional lobbyist and ultimate corrupt Washington insider?
Yeah, right.
As a progressive Indie Obama supporter, I would LOVE to see Newt as the nominee…he would self-destruct. But that ain’t gonna happen. It will be an Obama/Romney race. Count on it.
Posted by: Raven | January 2, 2012, 5:06 pm 5:06 pm
Romney is as phoney as a $3 bill. He may appear to be a straight-laced Mormon, honest Mr. Nice Guy, but he’s anything but (except Mormon)! Romney switches his positions by the moment, whenever, wherever it plays to the audience. As Massachusetts Governor he promised to protect abortion rights and respect gay rights. Now he courts conservatives Republicans and he’s all Mr. Conservative. Ha! And everyone thought Kerry was the flip-flopper? Romney is another George W. Bush without the Texas accent.
Posted by: Chad McConnell | January 2, 2012, 5:20 pm 5:20 pm
The way these Republicans talk about each other, you wonder how they can stand being in the same Party. And then you remember that the Republicans went to bed with the KKK under the Southern Strategy, and it becomes clear: they are a parcel of rogues.
Posted by: Bennett Hammond | January 2, 2012, 5:31 pm 5:31 pm
Raven – I seriously doubt that you are an “Indie”. You come across as hard core liberal in all your post. I am very seriously in the middle. There are a lot of us out there. In fact, more than even the media knows as many of us are not registered as independents. I would love to see a Ron Paul for the first real change that this country has seen in years and I love his integrity. However, I really do think that the nominee will be Romney and I do think that he has the best chance in a general election because he is moderate. It doesn’t matter that hard core conservatives don’t like him. Not every republican or democrat is hard core. In fact, I reject the extemes of both parties. We need someone who can work with both parties (something that Obama has proven he can’t do) and I believe Romney will be it. Sorry Ron Paul supporters because I really love most of what this man stands for. If I have to choose between an extremist war monger like a Santorum or Obama, I will write in Ron Paul. If it’s Romney (and I believe that it will be) I will vote for Romney. I’ll never support a Bachmann or Santorum but I will not vote for Obama either.
Posted by: beaches24 | January 2, 2012, 5:33 pm 5:33 pm
BEACHE$24: “Raven – I seriously doubt that you are an “Indie”. You come across as hard core liberal in all your post.”
As I stated, I am a PROGRESSIVE (LIBERAL) Independent.
If you like Paul, and plan to support Romney, then you are hardly “very seriously in the middle”. You are very much to the Right. Paul is a radical Libertarian, and Romney is an (albeit fairly moderate and pragmatic) Repuplican.
I’ve watched a great many Republicans switch to Independents over the last several years (seeking to distance themselves from the Bush train-wreck and pose as political purists or something).
Being an Independent (as I have been for about 20 years now) does NOT mean you have no political preferences or leaning left or right. It simply means you are not affiliated with any political party. Me? The Dems are simply not liberal ENOUGH for me… I like Nader, and have voted for him several times. I also frequently vote for other third party candidates and support opening up the ballot to more options. But trust me, they are not the candidates YOU would vote for, lol.
And I would rather (to paraphrase John Henry Faulk) wade through my own vomit than vote for a Republican. And will throw my vote to the Democrat if it comes down to them or the Republican in a race (as I did with Kerry, since even in Texas, where I was at the time, it was THAT close!)
I voted for Obama because I liked him and his positions. I knew he didn’t need my vote to win (he’d already won by a landslide before our polls here on the west coast had even closed). And I intend to vote for him again, because he’s done a damn good job, imo.
None of that means I am any less of an Independent than you…it means I am a LIBERAL Independent (as most of us were until fairly recently).
Posted by: Raven | January 2, 2012, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
“The way these Republicans talk about each other, you wonder how they can stand being in the same Party”
They can’t. Which is why they will lose in 2012. The moderate mainstream of the GOP rejects the radical Tea Party candidates and the radical TPers reject any candidate slightly left of Hitler.
They can’t agree on a candidate, much less say an electable one.
:)
Posted by: Raven | January 2, 2012, 6:05 pm 6:05 pm
PPP just ran a poll more recent than the Des Moines Register poll. Paul has regained the lead and has momentum. Santorum is catching Romney for second place but the former’s surge appears to have ended.
According to the poll, Paul’s support has been rising whereas Romney’s has been falling. A third place showing for Romney might shake things up in New Hampshire. In any case, I hope the college set are back to deliver Rep. Paul the win. less
Posted by: carlos | January 2, 2012, 6:35 pm 6:35 pm
I hope that when Romney buys the presidency he rounds up all the Hispanics and deports them.
Posted by: bob | January 2, 2012, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
“I don’t think I’m going to win [In Iowa],” Gingrich told reporters.
“I’m sure Romney will win” in New Hampshire, Gingrich said.
—————————
It’s disappointing that Newt has thrown in the towel and quit before the first ballot has been cast.
Michele Bachmann is polling dead last at 6% – when she was asked today if she will quit the race if she loses Iowa – she said with a big beaming smile on her face that “I am going to be the President of the United States of America”.
And behind her was a devoted group of volunteers and they all cheered.
One thing that I admire about Michele is that she’s not a quitter, she’s a fighter – she may not win but she knows how to play the game.
Polls can change, but when people say, I’ve lost Iowa and New Hampshire…..it is devastating to team morale.
What is the point of volunteers working for Newt when he’s already given up. I want to tell these volunteers that you have a place with us on Team Romney.
On Team Romney, we were behind 20 points on the polls, but we’ve fought back because we are men and women of faith and determination. We aren’t quitters. And I know that Newt’s volunteers and supporters are feeling let down.
I want to tell these folks that you will always have a place with us on Team Romney and we are honored to have you join our team. We don’t always agree on everything but we agree on a heck of a lot more than we do with Obama.
So don’t wait outside in the cold and dark – alone and forlorn because your leader abandoned you. Come inside and join with us – we’ll work side by side and achieve great things together.
Posted by: Romney Supporter | January 2, 2012, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
No more Mr. Nice Guy? Never thought he was to begin with. What is so wrong with Mr. Romney? He is a Christian…happily married…good father…comes from good stock…clean and moral background…experienced in government with a good record there. Why go after him? Is it a cover up smoke screen so people won’t look too closely to the other candidates. Why can’t people conduct a clean election without slurs, slams, and smears? I am for letting the best man win….not a party or an agenda.
Posted by: Jan | January 2, 2012, 6:46 pm 6:46 pm
The continuing naivete of the voting public is incredible, considering what has occurred during the past four years. We were promised change, but only received the continuation and worsening of the Bush policies.The president is only the puppet of the military industrial complex, the bankers and Big Pharma. He may attempt to compromise and meet the opposition half-way, but finishes supine, acceding to the Tea Party’s agenda and signing Indefinite Detention without a trial into law. He has been warned by Nancy Pelosi ‘Not to investigate 9/11 too closely’ and has followed her advice. This is a perfectly natural response, as he wants to avoid the fate of John and Robert Kennedy. Therefore, it doesn’t matter who will be elected. He or she will not be the one at the helm of the Ship of State.
Posted by: Robert Barrett | January 2, 2012, 6:51 pm 6:51 pm
There are three people in the Republican race that don’t put on a false face for votes. Bachmann, but she wouln’t know the truth if it hit her in the face, Paul but he’s sort of a crazy ol’ coot and Santorum but I for one am a bit tired of spending billions of my tax dollars making bomb manufactures rich. I guess the reason Republican voters are having a tough time making a decision is there really isn’t anyone in the Republican field that can be trusted not to screw up the limited progress we’ve had in the last three years. In my over 30 years of voting, I’ve never seen a more pathetic group of presidential candidates than are running for the GOP ticket.
Posted by: annette | January 2, 2012, 7:10 pm 7:10 pm
Newt is now going to carpet bomb Romney now who are the Super Pacs going to go after.
How the Supreme Court could think Citizens United was good for democracy defies logic or any common senxe.
Posted by: RomneySchmomney | January 2, 2012, 7:16 pm 7:16 pm
I don’t think anyone in Washington or running for president has this country and its citizens best interest at heart. They are all corrupt to some degree, republican, democrats and anything in between. Picking the right presidential candidate for you, is like picking which sexually transmitted disease is just right for you. Bottom line, there are not good options, which is why I’m voting for Jesus.
Posted by: SuperSally | January 2, 2012, 7:23 pm 7:23 pm
** You MUST READ Bullet #2 **
It’s time for Romney to answer some of the difficult questions that he has skated past up until this point.. and the voters deserve answers to such as :
- why is his economic & tax plan the only one that the Wall Street Journal calls soft (slow growth) .. taxing mid-upper income earners more than obama! ? .. no flat tax or other huge simulators to the economy such as Newt Gingrich’s (that the WSJournal and others say gives the economy a Huge BOOST !?) ?
- on the question everyone is afraid to mention.. Mormonism.. I would almost guarantee the general population doesn’t realize that true Mormons believe if they practiced religion faithfully then they too can BECOME GODs and have their OWN PLANET, as the Mormon GOD LIVES on PLANET KOLOB.. stating that Polygamy will be used to “colonize” these new planets for their growing followers.. along with the negative views on blacks … wearing magic undergarments.. etc.
(who’s the wacky and zany candidate here !??)
** What does Romney believe and practice? ?
I dare the media to start asking these tough questions.. in the debates and in daily interviews !
We don’t need four more years of a Barbie/Ken Doll candidate that just looks good.. but has no real experience and substance in actually saving an entire country from the brink like Newt did with Reagan and Clinton. This isn’t a company you can bankrupt and fire the employees to make profit (as is Romney’s experience).
Posted by: John Hemmer | January 3, 2012, 4:16 pm 4:16 pm