DES MOINES, Iowa – Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was forced to defend his character and brand of conservatism on Saturday in one of the most personal and combative debates of the primary season.
The former House Speaker, who has been surging in the polls, was targeted by opponents over his time as a consultant for mortgage giant Freddie Mac, his earlier support for the unpopular individual mandate that is central to President Obama’s health care reforms and a series of extramarital affairs and two divorces.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was among those who talked about their own long-term marriages not just to draw a contrast with GIngrich but to portray themselves as committed, consistent and reliable.
I’ve always been of the opinion that if you cheat on your wife you’ll cheat on your business partner, so I think that issue of fidelity is important,” Perry said.
“I’ve said up front and openly I have made mistakes at times,” Gingrich responded. “But I’m a 68-year-old grandfather and I think people have to measure who I am now.”
With just three weeks before Iowa voters cast the first ballots of the 2012 election, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann all ripped into Gingrich.
“When you are talking about taking over $100 million and your office is on Rodeo Drive of Washington, D.C., which is K Street… that is the epitome of the establishment. That is the epitome of a Washington insider,” Bachmann said, referring to the consultant fees Gingrich received from Freddie Mac. Bachmann also swung at Gingrich for once supporting the individual mandate, which requires Americans to buy health insurance.
Gingrich rejected Bachmann’s arguments, calling them “simply untrue.”
“I was never a spokesman for any agency,” Gingrich said. “I never did any lobbying for any agency. I was in the private sector.”
Gingrich supported the individual mandate — like many other Republicans at the time — to effectively combat then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s health care plan, he said. Now he believes the mandate is
unconstutional, he asserted.
Romney repeatedly attempted to paint Gingrich as unpredictable and irrational by referring to instances where Gingrich’s previous off-the-cuff remarks have gotten him into trouble.
“His idea to have a lunar colony that would mine minerals from the moon, I’m not in favor of spending that kind of money to do that,” Romney said, cracking a wide smile as the audience laughed.
Gingrich shot back with one of the most memorable lines of the night. “Let’s be candid,” he told Romney, “the only reason you didn’t become a career politician is you lost [a Senate race] to Teddy Kennedy in 1994.”
Later on, while the candidates were sparring over U.S.-Israeli relations, Romney pounced on Gingrich for calling the Palestinians an “invented” people.
“That I think was a mistake on the speaker’s part,” he said. “We’re not gonna throw incendiary words into a– a place which is– a boiling pot when our friends the Israelis would probably say, “What in the world are you doin’?… I’m not a bomb thrower, rhetorically or literally.”
Defending himself, Gingrich said, “It’s time for an American president to tell the truth.”
Bachmann, who has faded in the polls after winning the Iowa straw poll in August, went after both of the frontrunners, blasting “Newt Romney” for changing positions on crucial issues, including health care reform.
