Slipping in the polls, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is challenging his rivals and their allies to quit running negative ads challenging the Gingrich record.
“The next time you see one of the candidates who’s running the negative ads, ask them to take it off the air,” Gingrich told a crowd in Hiawatha last night. “Just say to ’em, ‘It demeans America’ and the other person it helps in the long run is Barack Obama.”
Gingrich is being vastly outspent on the airwaves in Iowa, as ads from competitors like Ron Paul and Rick Perry take direct aim at Gingrich on a variety of fronts.
“My only request to the people of Iowa is when you get ready to vote in two weeks, ask yourself, ‘Do you really want to reward politics as usual, negativity as usual, attack as usual, consultant as usual, fundraising from Wall Street millionaires as usual?'” Gingrich said in Hiawatha. “Or do you want to vote for the only person who has consistently, steadily been positive for the entire campaign?”
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen will endorse Gingrich tomorrow during a statehouse news conference at 8:30 a.m. The other two Republicans on the leadership team in the Iowa House have been backing Gingrich. House GOP Leader Linda Upmeyer serves as Gingrich’s Iowa campaign chairman.