Gingrich ad: Romney plan "timid," mine "powerful"

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to pivot away from his calls for a positive Republican presidential primary with a new ad deeming frontrunner Mitt Romney's proposals "timid."

"Romney's economic plan? Timid," a narrator says as the spot opens, as a blurry image of Romney appears onscreen. "Parts of it virtually identical to Obama's failed policy. Timid won't create jobs, and timid certainly won't defeat Barack Obama."

The narrator then goes on to deem Gingrich's jobs plan "powerful" and cast Gingrich as a "bold" conservative leader.

The Gingrich campaign said the spot starts airing in New Hampshire and South Carolina tonight. It said the ad buy is "significant," but would not disclose the dollar amount.

Gingrich, who deemed Romney a liar on Tuesday, is promising "a much clearer and sharper contrast" with the former Massachusetts governor in the wake of Gingrich's disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Echoing some of his rivals, he says there is a difference between attacking and showing contrasts.

"The most we're going to do is draw a direct and sharp contrast with Governor Romney, who is a Massachusetts moderate, and contrast my fighting against tax increases and his tax increases, or contrast my very bold plan for jobs and economic growth, which The Wall Street Journal Saturday said was the best and most aggressive job-producing plan, with what they characterize as a plan for -- by Romney so timid that it resembles Obama," he said on Fox News Wednesday. He then vowed not to "go into attack commercials and the kind of the negative baloney that some of these guys do."

"In terms of beating Obama, having a clearly defined conservative is vastly more likely to win than having somebody who's confused," he said in New Hampshire Wednesday, in a shot at Romney.

"I'm not in any way confused about my beliefs," he added.

CBS News/National Journal off-air reporter Sarah Huisenga contributed reporting.

Full CBS News coverage: Newt Gingrich

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Newt Gingrich on the campaign trail

[PourpaixPourpaix]

You know, the German Nazis had a bold plan. Bush junior also had a bold plan. Apparently, so do the Republican representatives in the House. None have been particularly effective in anything except making a lot of lives miserable. Exactly why should I become excited that Gingrich says he has a bold plan? Perhaps I would think his plan better, if this were a campaign of disclosing plans and let me judge for myself. But it's another campaign of slinging mud and crowing about the success of "my" plan before it's even put in place. We already made the mistake of electing a Bush junior, who brought us to ruin because his plan was the only acceptable plan. Good government is not some cowboy playing the biggest bull elephant ...... the best Presidents we have had were able to work with many different philosophies both domestic and international, and come up with composite plans that include differing viewpoints.

[andrewjsacks]

OBAMA 2012!

[Jaylah54]

So much for Newty's promise of not running a negative campaign, I guess, huh?

[worktogether]

Bin loddin dead , Stocks booming, Unemployment going down. Just went down a point where i live, Businesses reporting record profits. Iraq done. Afghanistan done this year, Health care for all. How is that failed policys. The republicon party is broke, And all of America know it. Obama will be re-elected easy. Mitt the snake makes all his money closing company's and stealing there retirement plans. That is a fact. Republicans are a mess and they think they have America fooled

[worktogether]

Bin loddin dead , Stocks booming, Unemployment going down. Just went down a point where i live, Businesses reporting record profits. Iraq done. Afganastan done this year, Health care for all. How is that failed policys. The republicon party is broke, And all of america know it. Obama will be re-elected easy. Mitt the snake makes all his money closing companys and stealing there retirement plans. That is a fact. Republicans are a mess and they think they have America fooled

[nomorfun2011]

Why does Gingrich think that calling someone a moderate is an insult? Americans do not like extremists, whether they are conservative, liberal, Muslim, Christian, etc. That's why Gingrich isn't doing any good. And to actually be sinking to the "you're a doo-doo, and I'm not" mode of fighting just makes us bored.

[jimbom121]

In today's GOP its an insult. In the rest of America its a compliment.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

It's too bad for the GOP that any moderation is a sin, then. Us moderates like a two party system, and abhor the thought that one side "wins" the demise of the other. One party extremist governments make for miserable countries. The United States of Republicans and the United States of Democrats would be no different.

[cambone2]

Gingrich is a fool

[doofus-slapper]

I never heard of a "Fidelity Agreement" for a married person until Gingrich's third wife insisted on one.

[bantamei]

IT is becoming quite cleat that the republican party has gone off the deep end and the candidates are pandering to the most extreme of the extremist right, bordering on Fascism.

[starving1968-3]

That's what the conservatives consider "jobs": people making minimum wage barely eking out a a living, making the products that the wealthy want at a lower price.

That's why they pushed so hard to "open the foreign markets" - aka 'create more free trade agreements'.