“I’ll tell you what,” Newt Gingrich said when responding to a question posed at an NBC interview, “if he wants to test the heat, I’ll meet him anywhere in Iowa next week, one-on-one, 90 minutes no moderator, just a timekeeper. He wants to try out the kitchen? I’ll debate him anywhere. We’ll bring his ads, and he can defend [them].”
The question Gingrich was responding to, was in reference to a previous statement made by Mitt Romney, that suggested Gingrich couldn’t stand the “heat” of negative ads. Romney told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “If you can’t handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that’s going to come from Obama’s Hell’s Kitchen is going to be a heck of a lot hotter.”
Gingrich continued;
“And we can bring the Washington Post indication that his ad is filled with lies and he can defend it. So let’s test this kitchen. I’m happy [to]. I’ll go in this kitchen. Go back and ask Gov. Romney, would he like to come and play in the kitchen? I don’t think so. I don’t think he wants to do anything except hide over here and pretend it’s not his fault that he is flooding the people of Iowa with falsehoods.
“That’s his money and his staff. And it’s his responsibility. I can take the heat plenty well. There were 121,000 ads run against me in 1995 and 1996. I went through two government shutdowns. I actually stuck to my word. I opposed Republican tax increases in 1982 and 1980. I think I’ll do just fine with the heat from Barack Obama because frankly, it’ll be a fair exchange. He’ll get a fair amount of heat in the process.”
Like the others before him who once led the group of Republican misfits charge up the hill to become president of the United States, Newt Gingrich has fallen by the wayside. Recent polls now have him in third position behind Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.
