Gingrich to Rivals: Knock Off Negative Ads

Newt Gingrich has a small favor to ask of his GOP rivals for the presidential nomination: Cut out the negative advertising.

"When you see one of these guys, ask them how they can keep these negative ads on the air," Gingrich implored a crowd of about 125 during a campaign stop in Hiawatha on Monday evening. 

Gingrich, accompanied by his wife, Callista, spoke for about a half hour at a town hall style event Monday night at Level 10 Apparel, a screen printing custom-clothing company in Hiawatha. If Level 10 had made Gingrich a customized T-shirt to match the theme of much of his speech, it would have had a picture of a negative ad with an X over it.

The former House Speaker asked the crowd to tell his attack-minded fellow candidates they "ought to be ashamed of themselves." He meanwhile has pledged to maintain a positive campaign.

Gingrich may have an ulterior motive in railing against the negative advertisements that have been playing against him in Iowa, many of them funded by political action committees (PACs) and other groups with unclear financial backers. He has been the subject of many of them and they are coming from all directions, but most heavily from his top opponents, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.

The ads remind viewers of his "baggage" -- financial gains and past ethics violations. After surging to the front of the pack, the ads appear to be taking a toll as recent polls show Gingrich . 

Perhaps in a nod to these negative poll numbers in the state, Gingrich cited national polls, where he is tied at the top, as reason to be encouraged. As if to support this, the immense national press presence that he's had since surging to the top still showed up to cover the event.

"We actually have a campaign that is trying to catch up with popular support," he said.

Gingrich didn't mention any of his rivals by name when it came to negative ads, but he did mention PAC-sponsored attacks as being particularly egregious, calling the idea that a PAC, staffed by former campaign staffers, would create a campaign ad attacking a candidate's rivals without that candidate's knowledge "absolute baloney." This was a reference to Restore our Future, a PAC affiliated with Mitt Romney, which has been running a television advertisement in Iowa claiming that Gingrich has too much baggage to win the presidency.

Gingrich also promised that all of the claims made by the negative ads would be rebuked on his website. He also affirmed that he would be launching a 44-stop bus tour of Iowa the week in Iowa to bolster his support  and fight the effects of the negative advertisements.

In the rest of his speech, Gingrich touched on some of his economic and tax ideas, and argued that voters should pick him because he has the credentials from balancing the budget and finding consensus with Democrats as speaker of the house to beat President Obama and get things done as president.

"When you think about the actual candidates, which of us do you want up there on that platform with Obama?" Gingrich asked.

Eric Bochner, 44, a and Republican from Iowa City who came to see Gingrich speak, said that he was convinced Gingrich should be that candidate to face Obama.

"I think he's just got a better perspective than the other candidates and he has that federal experience," Bochner said. "(As speaker) he's already been two heart beats away from the presidency."

Bochner said he was impressed by Gingrich's communication skills, which exceeded even what he was expecting from seeing him on television.

After the event, Newt fans lined up to get their books signed. Gingrich's book, "A Nation Like No Other" was available for sale for $25, and a children's book written by Callista was also available.