Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    The Week

    Time for Mitt Romney to attack Newt Gingrich?

    The mild-mannered moderate's backers urge him to get more aggressive to drag the surging Gingrich back to Earth

    With the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses fast approaching, and Newt Gingrich increasing his lead in polls, some of Mitt Romney's supporters are urging him to ditch his "mild-mannered" style and go into attack mode. They say the former Massachusetts governor needs to trip up Gingrich and show he can handle what promises to be a tough fight against President Obama. While Romney is vowing to get more aggressive, if not go into full-on battle, some political junkies say the former businessman should stay focused on the economy and avoid tarnishing his hard-earned reputation. What is Romney's best strategy?

    Attacking Gingrich is a waste of time: Gingrich is not Romney's main problem, says Chris Stirewalt at Fox News. Mitt's real challenge is winning over "the three quarters of Republican voters who don't believe (he) is one of them." Romney doesn't have much time left to make the sale, and he'll never succeed if he focuses his energies and resources on "ending the current Newtness."
    "Romney misdiagnoses his problem"

    Well, Mitt has to try something new: Romney's current approach simply isn't working, says John Berman at ABC News. He needs a "shift in tactics." Mitt won't sully himself with personal attacks on Gingrich's integrity — he'll let surrogates do that. But he should follow through on his vow to make the contrast between him and Gingrich "loud and clear," while highlighting the importance of temperament, a Gingrich weakness. If Mitt's lucky, Newt will respond by digging "a hole for himself."
    "Romney team shifts tactics"

    And Romney's latest ad is quite clever: Direct attacks often "hurt both the candidates making them and their intended targets," says Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times. But Romney's new ad might just thread the needle. The clip focuses on Mitt's 42-year marriage — an "implicit dig" at the thrice-married Gingrich. By hitting his rival with "an attack advertisement in the guise of a purely positive commercial," Romney may avoid the consequences of going negative.
    "Romney ad highlights stable family"

    SEE MORE: Will Mitt Romney thrive as an underdog?

     

    View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

    Other stories from this topic:

    Like on Facebook - Follow on Twitter - Sign-up for Daily Newsletter

     

    27 comments

    • SteveH  •  Fort Worth, United States  •  5 mths ago
      With decades of consistency and integrity on the record, Ron Paul cannot be influenced by lobbyists or bought off by the wall st bankers. He is a man with basically “nothing to lose” who will fight the wash dc “insiders” to get our country back on track.
      He will fight for term limits on congress and a balanced budget amendment. He will cut as much govt waste as he can. He will bring our troops home from wars that ended long ago. He will secure our borders and fight to cut all govt assistance to illegals.
      If our great country is to survive these very challenging times, then we need to elect a man who cannot be swayed by the political winds. A man who is honest and consistent. A true American patriot who will fight for the middle and lower classes and not the mega-rich elite, wall st or the bankers!!
      Ron Paul 2012!!
    • nobamazombies  •  Chandler, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Newt is not the target.
    • TR RINO  •  5 mths ago
      It is too bad we are seeing the right wing ideology dismantling the United States. On the local level they are destroying good schools, On the state level they are destroying rights. On the national level they want to hollow out the Federal Government so we look like a Confederation. This what happens to great powers. They fall apart at their cores when people are convinced to destroy the institutions that made them great.
      Fix is one thing but to destroy is another.
    • Super Pug  •  Ponte Vedra Beach, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Anyone but Obama, 2012.

      I'll vote the Charlie Sheen/Lindsay Lohan ticket.
      • TR RINO 5 mths ago
        If you are that stupid, I believe you.
    • WD3007  •  5 mths ago
      Romney doesn't necessarily have to attack Gingrich to step ahead he just has to move to the right of Gingrich inorder to grab the conservative vote. The good thing is he has the ability to do it but he also appeals to moderates but the problem is there are not enough moderate republicans to go around as much as their are conservatives within the party. Any one of these two canadates could win the nomination and do well but it's up to the individual voter to decide which direction they want to go.
      • TR RINO 5 mths ago
        This is what gerrymadering to make safe seat for reps gets you. You just become more and more right wing because the only election that counts is the primary for districts.
      • TR RINO 5 mths ago
        It is no longer your father's GOP. Abe is spinning in his grave.
    • J  •  5 mths ago
      The fact that romney has not attacked gingrich proves he did not bring down cain. Either perry did it or the racist dimocrook machine. I'm betting on the latter.
      • TR RINO 5 mths ago
        Watched to much Glen Beck?
    • Ashley  •  Portsmouth, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Ron Paul is the only one who can beat Obama. So it doesn't matter.
      • WD3007 5 mths ago
        He is NOT the only one who can beat Obama and anyone who thinks that is being quite nieve.
      • Zervur 5 mths ago
        based on what?
    • R Limbaugh  •  Winston-Salem, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Romney is in ruins. He is toast. He is being roasted by his fellow Retards. They don't like him because he belonged to a wrong religion - Mormon. They do not like him not because he is a flip-flopper (Blingrich is a worst flip-flopper), but for his religious beliefs. How ironic, Christians turning against fellow Christian. You can imagine what they will do to a Hindu not to talk of a Muslim.
    • Eddie L  •  5 mths ago
      Attack him for what? Not being as liberal as Romney?
    • freeordie75  •  5 mths ago
      I don't always vote, but when I do, I prefer Ron Paul.
    • The Dude  •  5 mths ago
      Romney couldn't attack his way out of a paper bag. Not that Newt would be much of a challenge.
    • Supermushroom97  •  5 mths ago
      Good... while these two idiots attack each other, Ron Paul will emerge when the dust clears.
    • Kup Kaque  •  5 mths ago
      It's time for Willard to pants Newt. (As a young person, could I ever have imagined writing such a sentence as that?)
    • MarcieC  •  San Jose, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I sympathize with the "less than enthusiastic" Republican voters.
      You see, my mom passed away and left me 3 dogs. She had named them Romney, Gingrich, and Ron Paul.
      Romney is nuts... He incessantly humps the legs of everyone. No matter how often he is told to go away , there he is, humping our legs, like he is entitled to do that.
      Gingrich is an ugly dog, and over weight. He has soiled the carpet so many times that I've given up. He digs under the fence and has sex with the neighbors' dogs. It's funny, he seems to love skinny old geriatric dogs.
      The dog that mom named Ron Paul is a crazy little critter - he howls at the moon. This dog is ancient. The one cool thing about this silly old mutt is that he sneaks up on Romney and Gingrich and pees on them. That makes us laugh hysterically!!
    • picker  •  Richardson, United States  •  5 mths ago
      All the candidates need to stop putting each other down and get to the business of how to make America a better country to live in!
    • Idiocracy  •  Houston, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Are we sure that Ginkbag and Spermin Herman didn't share any ho's?
    • Within a Weal  •  5 mths ago
      Gimme a shot of that there lemonade, barkeep. Make it a double. It's high noon and I gotta go out there and pants Newt.
    • Anonymous  •  5 mths ago
      VOTE RON PAUL AND END THIS NONSENSE!!!
    • Ghost  •  Salt Lake City, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Newt, the serial adulterer, has done a good job of historically attacking himself. Any day now Newts's head is going to explode and I'm going to be there to see it.
    • Candide  •  5 mths ago
      Time to vomit because of the excessive election coverage?