Reporting from Charleston, S.C.— As South Carolinians headed to the polls, a surging Newt Gingrich on Saturday turned his attention to Florida, holding a telephone town hall with voters who will have a critical primary later this month.
"We're going to be in Florida by Monday," he said "We're looking forward to it. It's going to be a great campaign. We have to have people power and idea power to offset Romney's money power, so we need your help."
Gingrich is surging against frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina, making Florida's primary critical. But the state is expensive, and the former Massachusetts governor and his supporters have a clear financial edge and are already airing attack advertisements against Gingrich.
"Part of the reason we do this is Gov. Romney in particular runs so many negative ads, we want to give people a chance to ask any question they want to in order to clear the air," Gingrich said.
One woman noted that one ad airing in Florida questioned Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac.
Gingrich has come under criticism for taking taxpayer money to allegedly lobby on behalf of Freddie Mac, an institution that is unpopular with conservatives.
The former House Speaker has denied lobbying, and said his firm merely provided "historical advice."
"[Gingrich] said he was an historian and just provided historical information," Romney told a crowd at his campaign headquarters. "Then he said he told them what they were doing was somehow not going to work.
"I'd like to see the report. We've got a Washington insider talking about Freddie Mac. Let's see what his report was to Freddie Mac, what he said to them, what advice he gave them.
"We're going to be in Florida by Monday," he said "We're looking forward to it. It's going to be a great campaign. We have to have people power and idea power to offset Romney's money power, so we need your help."
Gingrich is surging against frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina, making Florida's primary critical. But the state is expensive, and the former Massachusetts governor and his supporters have a clear financial edge and are already airing attack advertisements against Gingrich.
"Part of the reason we do this is Gov. Romney in particular runs so many negative ads, we want to give people a chance to ask any question they want to in order to clear the air," Gingrich said.
One woman noted that one ad airing in Florida questioned Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac.
Gingrich has come under criticism for taking taxpayer money to allegedly lobby on behalf of Freddie Mac, an institution that is unpopular with conservatives.
The former House Speaker has denied lobbying, and said his firm merely provided "historical advice."
"[Gingrich] said he was an historian and just provided historical information," Romney told a crowd at his campaign headquarters. "Then he said he told them what they were doing was somehow not going to work.
"I'd like to see the report. We've got a Washington insider talking about Freddie Mac. Let's see what his report was to Freddie Mac, what he said to them, what advice he gave them.
No comments:
Post a Comment