Gingrich's 'planned assault' on Romney: Too late?

A stumbling Newt backs off earlier promises to run a campaign free of damaging attacks — and sets his crosshairs on the GOP frontrunner

Gingrich
(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

With a week to go to the Iowa caucuses, all bets are off. In a new statement targeting Mitt Romney, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has backed off earlier promises to launch a campaign free of negative attacks. In the statement, Gingrich's camp mocks the former Massachusetts governor for calling himself a "conservative businessman," citing a 2002 Romney quote in which he characterizes his views as "progressive." Team Gingrich asserts that its portrayal of Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" isn't a slight, but rather an "accurate description of who he is." Considering Newt's recent series of setbacks, is throwing down the gauntlet this late in the game a wise move?

Newt needs something new: Gingrich has certainly "thrown elbows at Romney in the past," says Jonathan Martin at Politico, but those were "spur-of-the moment" and straight from the candidate's mouth; this, on the other hand, is a "planned assault." The Gingrich camp is "urgently in need" of momentum and this new offensive campaign "indicates a more significant step toward something that mixes issues and political character" — certainly a "different thing" for Gingrich and his team.

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