WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich is expected to face a barrage of attacks against his moral and political character at Saturday’s candidate debate as the former House speaker fights to prove he deserves and can maintain his newly minted front-runner status.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney launched his opening salvo against Gingrich on Thursday, dispatching two top Republicans to blast Gingrich, who led the historic 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, as “irrational” and unqualified to serve in the nation’s highest office.
“He’s not a reliable and trusted conservative leader,” former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent said in a conference call with reporters. “On many occasions he also says outrageous things that come from nowhere and he has a tendency to say them at exactly the time when they most undermine the conservative agenda.”
Former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu recalled when Gingrich called the federal budget proposal written by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “right-wing social engineering.”
“For Newt Gingrich, in an effort of self-aggrandizement, to come out and throw a clever phrase that has no other purpose than to make him sound a little smarter than the conservative Republican leadership, to undercut Paul Ryan, is the most self-serving, anti-conservative thing one can imagine happening,” Sununu said.
Romney also took a jab at Gingrich’s two failed marriages with a new ad emphasizing Romney’s own 42-year marriage.
When asked to respond to the attacks, Gingrich declined and said he plans to keep his campaign positive.
Romney’s new offensive comes as Gingrich takes the lead in Iowa polls and begins catching up to Romney in the first primary state of New Hampshire.
Not to be outdone, Texas Gov. Rick Perry also weighed in on Gingrich’s marital history on Thursday.
“I didn’t make an oath just to my wife, I made an oath to God when I married my wife,” Perry said during a campaign stop in South Carolina. “I think it’s an important issue.”
In addition to the arguments raised by the Romney and Perry campaigns, Gingrich is expected to face questions during the debate about his time as a consultant for hire — and whether he used his influence on Capitol Hill to move legislation on behalf of candidates.
“All the candidates are going to pile on Newt,” said Brian Darling, an analyst with the Republican-leaning Heritage Foundation. “Clearly we are getting down to the nitty-gritty and most of these candidates have to have a good showing in Iowa to continue in the race. This going to be a make-it or break-it moment for a bunch of the lower- and middle-tier candidates.”
Gingrich’s success in defending his record depends on whether he’s got a good defensive game, he said.
“It’s a very different method of debating than he has been used to in these prior debates,” he said. “He is no longer debating to fight to move up in the pecking order. He’s now at the top and defending himself.”
