Out of the gate at tonight’s GOP debate in South Carolina, Bret Baier’s first question to Newt Gingrich was meant to, in Baier’s words, “clear the air.” It went to the heart of Gingrich’s citation of the news media in stepped-up attacks on frontrunner Mitt Romney, when just a few months ago Gingrich was blaming the media for trying to create a intra-GOP fight. Baier put it this way:
On a debate stage in September you vowed to quote repudiate every effort of the news media to get republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama, who deserves to be defeated. close quote And yet in recent days you and your campaign have cited numerous outlets from The New York Times to Salon.com to attack Governor Romney’s business record: the exact line of attack the Obama campaign is using. Why?
Gingrich said, in essence, it’s politics. “The staying positive through Iowa, through 3 and a half million dollars of negative attacks proves you either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race or bring up your competitor’s record.” So that’s what he did.
What did you think of tonight’s debate?