COLUMBIA, S.C.--Friends and allies of Newt Gingrich, alarmed at his recent attacks that seem straight out of the Democratic playbook, worry that the former House speaker may be doing his party's eventual presidential nominee serious damage--and that he won't listen to veteran Republican strategists urging he back off.
For a moment in early December, Gingrich envisioned himself as the likely GOP nominee, and the likely president. But like Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who had a similar moment of clarity snatched away at the hands of George W. Bush in 2000, Gingrich’s plummet to earth appears to have knocked his political judgment off kilter. Several people who have known Gingrich for decades say that he was enraged after a group of Romney supporters poured millions of dollars into negative advertisements in Iowa, a move that ultimately helped bring down Gingrich’s campaign, and that the former congressman is now lashing out because of that.
Gingrich’s broadsides highlighting Romney's tenure at Bain Capital in two debates this weekend were but a prelude of what’s to come. A super PAC backing Gingrich has already reserved more than $1.5 million in airtime in South Carolina over the next two weeks, according to figures made available to National Journal, for an advertising blitz that will hammer Romney's business record. And on Wednesday, his campaign was floating a new Internet video that highlights Romney’s gaffes over time. If it is deemed successful, the campaign plans to broadcast the ad.
Link:Gingrich Friends Worry He Has Gone Rogue - Reid Wilson - NationalJournal.com
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