Team Romney inicia la ofensiva contra Gingrich

First Read:

*** The attack on Newt begins: In the last 24 hours, Mitt Romney’s campaign has started its attack -- though in a subtle way so far -- against Newt Gingrich. First, it launched its latest TV advertisement with Romney saying what he mentioned at the November CNBC debate: “I’ve been married to the same woman for 25 -- excuse me, I’ll get in trouble -- for 42 years.” (Hmmm, with whom could he be trying to make a contrast?) Then last night in West Des Moines, IA, as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was stumping for Romney, an undecided GOP voter asked the governor to say something she might not know about Romney to help influence her vote. Christie answered by observing how Romney interacted with Christie’s children. He added, “This is a guy who is a father and a husband and loves his wife and his kids.” And Christie concluded, “When you look at candidates say, ‘Is this the kind of person who’s always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I’ll never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed?’ [Romney] just won’t.” (Hmmm, who could possibly embarrass the country?)

*** It’s two fold: personal and professional: And today, at 9:00 am ET, two Romney surrogates -- former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu and former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent -- are holding a conference call to discuss Gingrich’s record. This is the first time that Team Romney has held a conference call to engage the former House speaker. And after the conference call, Sununu will appear on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown.” Meanwhile, on TODAY this morning, Romney backer Dan Quayle said he chose Romney over Gingrich because of leadership. “It comes down to one thing: leadership,” he said. “Mitt Romney would be a much better leader.” So the attack on Gingrich is two fold: personal and professional.