Romney camp on the offensive

DES MOINES, Iowa – Republican Mitt Romney opened a broad and new assault on rival Newt Gingrich on Thursday, dispatching surrogates and staff to cast him as unworthy of the GOP nomination and unfit to be president. Romney’s allies also readied a blistering new ad in Iowa that says Gingrich has spent “30 years in Washington flip-flopping on issues.”

The former Massachusetts governor is aiming to undermine his rising rival on both personal and professional fronts ahead of the 2012 campaign’s opening contest Jan. 3 in Iowa – a reversal by the one-time front-runner who had previously all but ignored his Republican foes.

“He’s not a reliable and trusted conservative leader because he’s not a reliable or trustworthy leader,” former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, a Romney supporter, said of Gingrich, offering a preview of the attacks Romney’s team promised would continue in the next few weeks.

Romney allies announced a $3.1 million TV ad campaign in Iowa beginning today that includes the new commercial assailing Gingrich on a host of fronts.

“Newt has a ton of baggage … And on the issues? Newt’s been on all sides,” says the ad by the Restore Our Future political action committee.

Campaigning in South Carolina, Gingrich brushed off the verbal assault and insisted his campaign would not change its above-the-fray approach regarding fellow Republican contenders.

The onslaught of criticism from Romney and his allies, after months of focusing on President Barack Obama, comes as the race has developed into a two-person contest. Gingrich’s quick rise in national and early-state polls threatens Romney’s claim as the likeliest Republican to be chosen to challenge Obama next fall.