Politics

Romney, Gingrich look past Iowa with new ad buys

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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As the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential caucuses are set to begin in Iowa, news is breaking that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has already made a significant ad buy in New Hampshire.

Gingrich has reportedly purchased a full-page print ad in Wednesday’s Manchester Union Leader. According to the Associated Press, the ad takes a swipe at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s record.  It will be the first in what appears to be a series of Gingrich ads in the Granite State. RELATED: Full coverage of Newt Gingrich)

The Gingrich campaign declined to elaborate on the ad buy, but is also reportedly planning to snatch up newspaper space in Florida and South Carolina.

Romney is already looking past New Hampshire — where he has a sizable polling advantage — to Florida.

The Washington Post reports that Romney plans to air television ads in the Sunshine State as early as Wednesday. If the report is true, he would be the first Republican candidate to purchase television airtime in Florida.

Romney’s Florida ad buy is estimated to cost $825,000.

UPDATE 8:27 p.m.

The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the Gingrich print ad late Tuesday. In it, Gingrich criticizes Romney’s jobs plan and touts his own. Gingrich cites The Wall Street Journal, which praised his jobs plan as “really the most aggressive” and called Romney’s “timid … in comparison.”

The Gingrich ad says he is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and cites Romney’s stated support of gun control laws. Gingrich attacks Romney accusing him of helping Planned Parenthood during his time as governor of Massachusetts.

He also attacks Romney for saying he was an “independent,” not a Republican, during the years when Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were president.

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