Gingrich Links Romney to 'European Socialists'

As the Iowa caucuses loom, Newt Gingrich's campaign is seeking to paint Mitt Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate"—who gets his ideas from "European socialists." The Gingrich campaign has pounced on recent Romney comments in which he suggested that a European-style value added tax could replace part of the tax code at the corporate level, and praised the co-incentive aspect of the health-care system in Switzerland, where people pay some 20% of their medical bills, ABC reports.

"The fact that he’s willing to look at European socialism shows just how far out of the conservative mainstream he is," a Gingrich spokesman says. As Gingrich—who says he wouldn't vote for Ron Paul if he became the GOP nominee—attacks his rivals, a pro-Gingrich super PAC has gone on the offensive against the party. A new Iowa ad from Winning Our Future urges conservative voters not to let the "liberal Republican establishment" choose the Republican nominee, CBS reports. (More Mitt Romney stories.)