Newt Gingrich Gets ‘Bold’ with Mitt Romney in N.H.

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Newt Gingrich is bringing a new kind of battle to the airwaves starting today. A 30 second TV ad that begins airing today in New Hampshire and South Carolina no longer begins with a pleasant Gingrich touting the greatness of America as seen in his ads in Iowa. This time, it’s personal, mentioning Mitt Romney by name.

The ad titled “Timid vs. Bold” shows a frowning Romney against a dark background with intense, darker music playing.

“Romney’s economic plan, timid, parts of virtually identical to Obama’s failed policy. Timid won’t create jobs and timid certainly won’t defeat Barack Obama,” a narrator says in the ad.

The music changes with more upbeat music and shows a brighter Gingrich smiling and waving to crowds.

“Newt Gingrich’s bold leadership balanced the budget, reformed welfare, helped create millions of new jobs. The Gingrich jobs plan, a powerful plan for growing our economy and creating jobs. Rebuilding the America we love with bold conservative leadership,” the ad states.

Last week, Gingrich told reporters he would be airing “comparison” ads about Romney after the Iowa Caucus, but also said there were ways to do those ads while remaining positive.

“You can do very calm, very pleasant ads, that the nature of the Republican Party is such that a calm and pleasant ad that says ‘He was for tax-paid abortions, I’m against it,’” Gingrich said last week. “You can say it happily, pleasantly. It works just by the nature of the data.”

The campaign is not releasing details on how large the ad buy is in both states.

In his speech in today in Plymouth, N.H., Gingrich stuck with the “timid vs. bold” theme, saying that unlike Romney, he wouldn’t be “confused” or “timid” about job creation and defending free enterprise.

“I think we have a much better chance to do well here than people thought originally,” Gingrich said. “The more people who think of what it really means to be a Massachusetts moderate, the better we do here.”