On Most Important Night of GOP Nomination Battle, Attacks Aplenty in Iowa

If anybody was questioning whether Newt Gingrich's frontrunner status would lead him to play nice in Saturday's GOP presidential debate, the answer came about 30 minutes into the evening: No.

The evening in Des Moines was far from the all-out debate brawl that could have been expected given Gingrich's surge in the polls and the dwindling prospects of the five opponents on stage with him before the January 3 Iowa caucuses.

But far from taking a frontrunner's historical role as passive target, Gingrich was tossing his own verbal bombs during the nationally televised debate.

The first was aimed at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

After listening to Romney compare his own life as a businessman to the former speaker's career in politics, Gingrich the historian emerged to remind Romney of 1994, when the Massachusetts governor-to-be made a run for the U.S. Senate.

"The only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994," Gingrich said, looking directly to his right, where Romney stood. "You'd be a 17-year career politician by now if you had won."

The moment provided a glimpse at the "Nasty Newt" that Gingrich advisors have been encouraging him to silence.

Gingrich, of course, was not the only person to take shots.

Provided openings from moderators Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, the candidates trying to catch Gingrich took swipes — some mild, some more aggressive — at his infidelity, his income related to Freddie Mac and his consistency on "conservative values."

Candidates Aim for Gingrich

Texas Gov. Rick Perry had the strongest words about Gingrich, now married to his third wife.

"I think if you cheat on your wife, if you would cheat on your spouse, why wouldn't you cheat on your business partner?" Perry asked, looking Gingrich's way. "Why wouldn't you cheat on anybody for that matter?"

Perry, Paul, Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Sen. Rick Santorum all reminded voters of their own longtime marriages.

When Gingrich was able to respond, he said that was the old Newt.

"I've made mistakes," he said. "I've had to go to God for forgiveness, I've needed reconciliation, but I'm also a 68-year-old grandfather now."

If he was contrite at that point, Gingrich swung hard again after Romney criticized him for referring to Palestinians as an "invented people."

Romney said Gingrich, as a candidate for president, needed to be more diplomatic with his language.

"I'm not a bomb-thrower, rhetorically or literally," Romney said.

Gingrich was not having the criticism.

"I am a Reaganite," he said, adding that it's time an American leader told the "truth about the Middle East."

And, Gingrich added, turning to Romney, that he would continue to speak out "even at the risk of causing some confusion, at some point, with the timid."

If Gingrich has a favorite moment of the night, though, it was most likely Romney's offer to bet Perry $10,000. The "bet" is likely to draw attention away from most of what was brought up about Gingrich's marital problems, his lobbying, which he says wasn't lobbying, and his stance on immigration, which is an important issue in Iowa.

Here's what the Des Moines Register reported about that:

Mitt Romney’s proposed $10,000 bet to Rick Perry during tonight’s debate echoes the words of a Wall Street politician, said Robert Haus, Iowa co-chairman for the Texas governor’s Iowa campaign.

“That’s the language of Wall Street and not the language of Main Street, Iowa,” Haus said. “I just think it went right past people.”

Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, Gingrich’s Iowa campaign chairwoman, called the proposed bet “a little odd.”

“I was kind of confused,” Upmeyer said. “I don’t know anybody that carries that kind of money around with them. When I make a bet with somebody, it’s usually for the $5 I have in my hand and we lay it down and we bet.”

Candidates Gather Again Thursday on Fox News

The debate, at Drake University, was the 12th meeting of the candidates, and the first shown nationally on network television. The candidates meet again Thursday in Sioux City.

Gingrich walked onto the stage with the most to lose, given his lead in Iowa and across much of the country. Early this month, The Des Moines Register showed him with the support of 25 percent of likely GOP Caucus-goers, ahead of Paul, at 18 percent, and Romney, with 16 percent.

Gingrich, though, may have also entered the debate with the most to gain, namely an opportunity to shore up his support in important early voting states, and especially among Iowans, who, since August, have made five of the eight GOP candidates their favorite.

First, Iowans were going for Romney; they gave Iowa's Ames Straw Poll to Bachmann, who was soon deposed by Rick Perry, until his center-stage memory lapses and other debate problems sent his campaign into a tailspin.

Herman Cain, now out of the race, briefly enamored Iowans, but Gingrich seemed to begin gaining traction in Iowa in October, with a series of well-received speeches with socially conservative evangelical Christian groups. 

But Gingrich's organization is weak in Iowa, where the arduous Caucus process demands that candidates have local leadership in place to cajole, counsel and convince residents to get to the polls. In Iowa, that need is magnified even more by the historically low turnout of GOP caucus-goers, typically about 24 percent.

Gingrich's past may also loom large in his future. After two divorces, including to his first wife as she was suffering from cancer, Gingrich has a whole new problem with women — getting them to support him. A Gallup poll released last week showed him the preference of 43 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning men, but only 30 percent of women.

Gov. Terry Branstad's communications director, Tim Albrecht, noted that "360,000 Iowans caucused, total, last time, [and] a lot of those voters will go to where the action is this year, which is on the GOP side." He predicted a robust turnout of around 140,000 Republicans, with an additional 20,000 in the event of accommodating weather.

Iowans React to Debate

Kevin McLaughlin, chairman of the Polk County Republican party, was in the audience with his wife, BJ.

While she preferred not to disclose his favorite candidate going into the debate, she had high expectations for Gingrich.

 “I loved him a long time ago, but I leaned away and came back again” just a few days ago, BJ said.

Tonight’s debate solidified BJ’s support for Gingrich.

“He has flaws, but they all do,” she said. “I feel like he is a person we can trust to lead us out of this mess.”

Kevin McLaughlin, on the other hand, wasn’t impressed with Gingrich. He did say, though, after watching tonight’s debate, the promise of all the GOP hopefuls has improved.

 “It’s our job is to whip them into shape,” Kevin said. “It’s our job to tell them what’s right and what they need to do to earn our support.”