Tonight\u2019s Republican debate in Iowa presents a field focused on the ascendancy of Newt Gingrich, who is shouldering criticism for comments he made to Jewish media about Palestinians and peace with Israel. Calling the Mideast peace process \u201cdelusional,\u201d Gingrich said in an interview with the Jewish Channel cable TV network that the Palestinians are \u201cinvented people.\u201d Gingrich, the former House speaker from Georgia, has emerged as Mitt Romney\u2019s top challenger for the nomination less than a month before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses start the party\u2019s nomination contests. <\/p>\n
Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is Jewish, issued a statement today saying Gingrich \u201cis wrong to think his attempt to turn the Palestinians into a non-people with no claim to a state will appeal to his audience on the Jewish Channel.\u201d After an appearance in Des Moines today, Gingrich told reporters he had no intention of losing his cool should he come under attack tonight. \u201cI\u2019m going to go in, say a prayer, be a witness to what America needs to do, answer the questions directly and honestly, and see what happens,\u201d he said. Tonight\u2019s debate, sponsored by ABC News and the Des Moines Register, will be broadcast live from Drake University in Des Moines. The gathering is also sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper, Yahoo.com, the Republican Party of Iowa and WOI-TV, a local ABC affiliate. <\/p>\n
\u2018Relentlessly Positive\u2019<\/strong> Romney\u2019s Electability<\/strong> Gingrich\u2019s Baggage<\/strong> Panic & Desperation<\/strong>
\n\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be tearing each other down,\u201d Gingrich told about 150 supporters today at the opening of his Iowa headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa. \u201cMy campaign will be relentlessly positive.\u201d R.C. Hammond, a Gingrich spokesman, said in a statement today that the former speaker \u201csupports a negotiated peace\u201d between Israel and the Palestinians. \u201cHowever, to understand what is being proposed and negotiated you have to understand decades of complex history, which is exactly what Gingrich was referencing,\u201d the statement said. At his Iowa headquarters in Des Moines today, Romney avoided any direct criticism of Gingrich, something he left to surrogates earlier in the week. \u201cWe want you guys to get out and get your friends to caucus and to do whatever has to get done on Jan. 3 to get out there and make a difference and make sure we select someone as our nominee who will win the presidency and will be able to get jobs back for our country,\u201d he told about 120 supporters. <\/p>\n
\nFormer Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who endorsed Romney after dropping out of the presidential race in August, also pointed to Romney\u2019s potential electability at the rally. \u201cWe need a person in that chair who we know has a steadiness,\u201d he said. \u201cMitt Romney is the most knowledgeable and capable and electable candidate in this field.\u201d Tonight\u2019s formal debate is the 12th this year for the Republican candidates, who will meet again on Dec. 15 in Sioux City, Iowa.<\/strong> The debate will be the most intimate gathering the group has held to date, with just six candidates on stage following the departure from the race by businessman Herman Cain. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., who isn\u2019t actively campaigning in Iowa, didn\u2019t meet polling criteria for participation. <\/p>\n
\nThe debate follows the release of a video by a political action committee supporting Romney that suggests Gingrich has a \u201cton of baggage\u201d as a presidential candidate. The video was put forward by the group Restore Our Future, which said it plans to spend $3.1 million on advertising in Iowa.<\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t have any comment on anything that PACs are going to do or say,\u201d Romney, 64, told reporters yesterday. Romney advisers criticized Gingrich as \u201coff message\u201d and undisciplined in a call yesterday with reporters.<\/strong> Mary Kramer, an Iowa supporter and a former U.S. ambassador to Barbados, pointed to Gingrich\u2019s comments about Palestinians and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things that I think makes me a little bit nervous about Speaker Gingrich,\u201d she said. \u201cHe sometimes makes comments that are open to very broad interpretations.\u201d Iowa State Representative Renee Schulte said Gingrich\u2019s history of divorce presents \u201ca contrast\u201d with Romney\u2019s 42-year marriage. \u201cIt\u2019s not that anybody is trying to attack anybody: it\u2019s just a difference,\u201d she said. Two of Gingrich\u2019s top Iowa supporters chided Romney and his campaign headquarters in Boston for taking a more combative tone.<\/strong> <\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing from Mitt Romney and Boston is desperation and panic,\u201d Linda Upmeyer, chairwoman of Gingrich\u2019s Iowa campaign effort, told reporters on a conference call. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and second-time presidential candidate, has campaigned for much of the year, mostly avoiding attacks on his opponents as he has kept his focus on President Barack Obama. That tone has changed since Gingrich has gained polling advantages in states with the earliest primaries and caucuses and in national polls. In a meeting with the Register\u2019s editorial board, Romney noted his business experience as he contrasted himself with Gingrich. \u201cSpeaker Gingrich has spent the last 30, 40 years in Washington,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing wrong with that. It\u2019s just different.\u201d Romney told the newspaper that he isn\u2019t concerned about Gingrich\u2019s rise in the polls. \u201cMy guess is that over time, Speaker Gingrich will follow a trajectory that will be unique to him but that will come down, and by the time we\u2019ll finish with this, I\u2019ll get the nomination,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t think that, I wouldn\u2019t be battling like I am. I expect to get the nomination.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n