Gingrich surrogates: Romney camp in desperate panic

Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign unleashed a pair of surrogates Friday to shoot down attacks from rival Mitt Romney and push the idea that Romney’s campaign is in full-on panic mode.

Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R), Gingrich’s state chairwoman, said the more than $3 million in ads that a pro-Romney PAC is airing in Iowa to attack the former House Speaker reflect desperation and an inability to offer constructive ideas.

“We’re not stupid people. We understand a load of crap when we see it,” Upmeyer said on a conference call with reporters.

Gingrich has pledged not to air any negative attack ads against his Republican opponents, building himself up as the above-the-fray candidate who needs not engage in the low-brow political antics of his opponents. But one reporter noted that by dispatching surrogates to attack Romney for attacking Gingrich, the former Speaker enmeshed his campaign in the same fray he frequently decries.

“No campaign just lays down and allows an opponent to stab you in the heart. It deserves a response,” said former Rep. Greg Ganske (R-Iowa), another Gingrich surrogate.

Ganske also dismissed concerns that the reputation Gingrich gained during his tenure as Speaker in the 1990s for bringing negativity and partisanship into lawmaking would hurt him in 2012, asserting that the candidate had undergone a transformative shift.

“In his time out of office, he has had time to think about a lot of things. I think he is fundamentally a happier person,” Ganske said. “I have seen a much more measured schedule, and I’ve seen more discipline than I ever have before.”

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