To the strains of "How Do You Like Me Now?," Newt Gingrich began his intense battle to take Florida Monday afternoon in Tampa by quickly bashing chief rival Mitt Romney, mocking him for working with former campaign aides to Charlie Crist, whose name remains anathema to conservatives in the Sunshine State.
With wife Calista standing nearby, Gingrich began his speech near the Hillsborough County Republican headquarters off of Eastern MLK Jr. Blvd. by saying he likes being in Tampa because of its zoo, as well as Busch Gardens, and touted his "people power," which he says is a grassroots effort in contrast to Romney's.
"I've been told by a variety of people that Governor Romney has been saying unkind things," he said to some laughs in the crowd of approximately 150 people. "I personally prefer not to believe it. But on the other hand, if you've been campaigning for six years, and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate."
Gingrich said Romney's criticism that he isn't a Reagan conservative is "such baloney," adding that It used to be "pious baloney, but now it's just desperate baloney."
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.