SHOTS FIRED: Is Mitt Romney Dissing Newt in New Commercial?

Latest Campaign ad plays up status as family man, unlike Gingrich

Mitt Romney never utters Newt Gingrich’s name in his latest campaign ad, but nonetheless he has tongues wagging that he used the commercial as a platform to lash out at the former speaker of the House. In the ad, which debuted Wednesday, Romney touts himself as a man who’s nothing but consistent.

“I’m a man of steadiness and constancy,” he says, highlighting the fact that he’s belonged to the same church and been married to the same woman for decades, unlike a certain Republican rival. Newt Gingrich, who’s surged ahead of Romney in Republican polls after Herman Cain’s scandalous exit, has been married three times. Romney’s new ad insinuates that Gingrich’s shaky personal life would make him a shaky leader. 

In contrast, “I will be true to my family, my faith and my country,” Romney declares in the ad.

On Thursday, Romney’s camp stepped up its attack on Gingrich. Romney backers characterized Gingrich as too volatile to lead the country, the New York Daily News reports. During a conference call with journalists, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu said, “The off-the-cuff comment, for example, that Gingrich throws out on occasion is a reflection on the off-the-cuff thinking that he goes through to deal with issues. That is not what you want in a commander in chief.”

Last week, Gingrich raised eyebrows when he called child labor laws “truly stupid” and suggested that poor children, which the ladies of “The View” said was code for “black” children, should be employed as janitors in their schools because they have no work ethic.

“They literally have no habit of showing up on Monday,” he said while campaigning at the Nationwide Insurance offices last week. “They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of ‘I do this and you give me cash,’ unless it’s illegal.”