Romney, Paul take aim at Gingrich with Iowa ads

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul launched new, specific attacks on Newt Gingrich over the weekend and today. Ads released Friday focused on the frontrunner's "propensity for wild remarks" and "checkered legislative resume," reported the New York Daily News.

The Romney camp rolled out two ads, one paid for by his presidential campaign, the other by his super PAC Restore Our Future. The ad funded by Romney's campaign is titled "With Friends Like Newt." Romney's team attacks Gingrich for his comments characterizing the Medicare reform plan of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI, as "right-wing social engineering."

Romney' campaign also lauched an anti-Gingrich website Monday called unreliableleader.com reported the Huffington Post.

In the ad produced by "Restore Our Future" they criticize Newt's "baggage," reports Jeremy Peters for the New York Times. The ad suggests Obama's plan is to "brutally attack Mitt Romney, and hope Newt Gingrich is his opponent."

"Why?" they ask. "Because "Newt has a ton of baggage," baggage they say includes ethics violations, work for Freddie Mac and liberal positions on climate change and immigration. This is part of a $3.1 million advertising push before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, said the Wall Street Journal.

Ron Paul's new ad series accuses Gingrich of "serial hypocrisy" for promoting conservative principles as speaker of the House, but changing his positions while receiving money as a consultant reported the New York Times.

The second ad says that Gingrich is an "insider" who was "selling access" as an adviser to Freddie Mac. "If you've been Speaker of the House, you're always an insider," Gingrich is shown saying.

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