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Newt Gingrich’s Mitt Romney ‘French’ Ad Stops Just Short Of Noting His ‘Purdy Mouth’

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For a guy who has squealed like a stuck pig over Mitt Romney‘s attacks against him, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has taken to the long knives like a Dexter set designer with OCD. Earlier this week, Gingrich managed to shoehorn the infamous pooch-on-the-roof road trip into an ad about debates (?!?), and now, his campaign (not his superPAC; there are no degrees of Kevin Bacon here) has put out an insulting spot comparing Romney to Massachusetts Democrats, and noting that he “speaks french.”

RELATED: Newt Gingrich Attack Ad Dogs Mitt Romney Over Putting Pooch On Roof

Mon Dieu!

The Gingrich campaign has apparently stopped trying to hide its attacks. The “doggie” ad was at least ostensibly pegged to a real issue, albeit thinly (It was like all those times you tried to fit whatever you were interested in into an essay question; “And so, this awesome bong I made is an excellent example of hyperbole. In fact, that’s what I call it, The Hyper-bowl!”). This new spot eschews any pretense of substance, juxtaposing Romney with fellow Massachusans Mike Dukakis and John Kerry, and climaxing with a Kerry-Romney “French-off.”

RELATED: Newt Gingrich On Mitt Romney’s Attack Ads: ‘I Feel Romney-Boated’

When I say the spot is insulting, I’m referring to South Carolina voters, of whom Gingrich must think very little. It is possible, I’ll admit, that South Carolinians might not be the world’s biggest Francophiles, and the ability to speak French might be a minor liability to some, but the nakedness of the manipulation bespeaks a contemptuous condescension on Gingrich’s part.

Sure, there are some South Carolinians who will chuckle at Romney’s intonation of “Je m’appelle Mitt Romney,” but they also might wonder what that’s doing in a political ad. Does Newt Gingrich assume that New Hampshire voters are such rubes that they’ll flee Romney for his high-fallutin’ linguistic ways? Are South Carolina’s voters expected to drop their banjos, grab their Bowies, and chase Romney through the woods yelping “Wheeeeeee!?”

That’s not to say there isn’t an appealing kind of justice to this, given Romney’s own naked attempts to demonize Europe, but things like this and the dog thing are better left to people like me, not to candidates who say they want to draw legitimate contrasts with their rivals.

If there’s really any justice, the mainstream media will take this ad as a reminder of some of Gingrich’s other views on foreign languages:

“The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. … We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto,” Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100.

Here’s the ad, via YouTube:


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  • http://twitter.com/questionsit john gammer

    He speaks French. A strange vise, that.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WH3ZLMM7CUKUHUIMK4TKXW6SQE John

    The whole French thing was stupid.  He should have tied that into Mittens dodging the draft by spending time in a French villa learning French.  Why would he not want to point that out?  Oh, that’s right.  Gingrich dodged the draft as well.

    These two guys are perfect for each other.  May they tear each other down as they deserve to be.

  • http://PalinsDirtyLittleSecret.blogspot.com/ FedsTakeOverMediaProofClickMe

    Allow me to translate. Unelected officials have taken over Washington and are orchestrating the daily news. 90% of the comments and replies you’re reading online come from an NSA software program spamming the internet. Comments are created before the stories are ever reported. The oldest, first, highest, best, and most popular rated comments are all propaganda. They are conducting Psy-ops (psychological operations) for domestic spying. They have 1000′s of handles and are determined to bury the truth and attack anyone leaking it.

    The next election is shaping up to be as big of a sham as the last. Do you know why Sarah Palin’s bus tour was really canceled? Do you know why she stayed 30 miles away from the second debate and chose the death of Steve Jobs to announce that she’s not running? Know what leaked out? Sarah Palin and Cain aren’t in the race for the same reason, the truth leaked out.

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg
  • Anonymous

    Have you lost your mind?  Palin didn’t have a prayer.  Neither does any of the morons running now.  Your right about one thing.  It’s all a game.  The people (Us) are the pawns.

  • Anonymous

    Vise? Or vice?

  • Anonymous

    I think that is the same guy with the ObamaIsOsama link. He’s batshit crazy.

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    Mitt can only hope that Newt not catch wind of the Foucault tattoo on the inside of his left forearm.  

  • Gloves Patrick Donahue

    Good thing Mitt didn’t have a French poodle.

    Newt has long since gone to the dark side.

  • Anonymous

    So a candidate who speaks French is bad, unqualified…? Romney never hid the fact that he was doing his religious service in France, wandering through the country trying to convert some folks to his religion. And now that he learned to speak French is supposed to be bad?
    Newt Gingrich made the racist statements less than a month ago, called the Spanish language the language of a ghetto.

    What is wrong with this man? Hates science, other cultures, a racist, and runs for president!
    What about $1.6 million he received from Freddie Mac, >$30 million from the health care industry? He never talks about that.

  • Anonymous

    I saw this ad earlier today, and honestly thought it was a joke, an ad making fun of attack ads. And if  it were coming from any camp except Gingrich’s I probably still believe it.

  • Anonymous

    Given the examples of Romney speaking French I’ve heard, this is a non-issue because he can truthfully state that he does not speak French. 

  • Anonymous

    Je suis tre heureux de vous rencontrer.

  • http://twitter.com/BusyDay2day Father Time

    The ad was a bit silly, but it did a good job getting the idea across.  The problem with it is that it ends by saying a Massachusetts moderate cannot beat Barack Obama — which is totally false.  He stands the best chance to beat the POTUS.  They should have left the last 5 seconds out.  

  • Anonymous

    Eh bien, c’est possible.

  • Anonymous

    je vous remercie

  • Anonymous

    Newt makes Mitt likeable.

  • Anonymous

    Bilingualism means you’re more intelligent and will probably not have Alzheimer’s disease:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/science/31conversation.html

    OOPS!

  • Anonymous

    Snakes are bi-lingual.

  • News Of The World

    I guess Gingrich is going to do his best to go out in total shame and disgrace.  How pathetic.

  • Anonymous

    Si. They speak with forked tongue

  • Hout Bosques

    Mittens is pretty much immune to being liked. I might be prepared to concede Newt makes Mittens look slightly less despicable, but it would take a prohibitive amount of dedicated work in studying the two of them & then making the sort of comprehensive side-by-side comparison that’s really only justified in assessing insurance policies & mutual funds. Even if I had the time & motivation, I’d much rather spend it assessing the relative like-ability of Attila the Hun versus Genghis Khan; at least with those two raiders, there’s a chance someone might end up looking a big better.

    Do people understand how misplaced is this notion of ‘creative destruction’ is when considering the ‘merits’ of leveraged buy-outs? There really aren’t any at all. Anything in the way of possible value can achieved by reorganizing a corporate entity in consultation with the existing management & work force, including unions, or by merging it with another corporation. The only reason we ever got leveraged buy-outs in the first place is because of a hole in the tax laws that allows corporations to write off the interest on debt (supposedly) taken on to render a corporation more marketable to new ownership. And though the Bain CC l.b.s do get looked at in business schools, it’s mainly for how to avoid prosecutions & objections & civil actions by government agencies. People thinking that Mittens came up with this idea are simply wrong. What happened was that the early corporate raiders like Michael Milliken with his junk bond financing & Carl Icahn (the main model for Gordon Gekko, at least until Mittens came along, with his vaguely greater resemblance to Michael Douglas) ran up against a lot of legal troubles, and THOSE are what Mittens & the other hybrid Harvard Law & Business double degree students focussed on in their studies. Mittens was peculiarly well-placed to exploit this con because of his father’s political connections & family & church money – but the main ingredients were those connections & the felicity of starting Bain CC during the Reagan era.

  • Anonymous

    My god, an American that can actually speak more than one language? The horror! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Silver-Mountain/100003346880778 Silver Mountain

    Wow, what a great campaign slap down advertisment. Good Job Newt. As a Newt Gingrich supporter I want to see the debate between our apostate President and Newt Gingrich. Newt will gut, embarrass, and ultimately expose the occupier of the White House (OWH). This is a big fear factor not only for the President, but, to the establishment big time!  Our biggest adversary is the establishment with their take on the GOP race and which candidate should represent us against Obama. The establishment well knows that Gingrich will indeed crush the President in debate, but also knows that Newt will not stop there. Newt will call out the Sheik on his radical Saul Alinsky ideology. They feel this is a bad recipe and model to follow when going head to head against Obama. That it’s a bad idea to attack the President on anything except his broken policies. I disagree, I believe that Mitt Romney will do an adequate job pointing out the errors and leadership failures in the Obama plan, and will contrast himself with Obama marginally.  I think the President will counter Mitt Romney with ease, and marginalize him in as little as two debates. Obama will showcase Romney care as the national model and will win reelection on that plan alone. The so called “flip flop” tag that Mitt has on his back will ensure the defeat of Romney against the Sheik. 
    Republicans know to actually unseat Obama, we have to take away the sting of the Independents and moderates by bringing that part of the electorate back to the right, as Gingrich is doing, and not by moving to the center as Romney has and will do.  Newt Gingrich will not cave on us conservatives, Newt Gingrich will embarrass Obama in debate so badly, it will embarrass those “fence sitters” that claim undecided, along with Independents reeling them back to the right! The strategy to win begins by winning over the Independents (not caving to them), exposing the broken direction that this nation is streaking towards. Exposing Obama’s poorly defined defense strategy, aggravating the Arabs with a weak middle-east policy, redistribution ideology blah, blah, blah.  This has to be pounded out for the undecided to see clearly that there is a more appropriate and necessary American response. Gingrich can do this, the left knows it, the establishment is afraid of this too and they are propping Romney so far up to put him out of reach. I would really like the opportunity to vote for my choice of candidates before the Romney News Network (FOX News Channel), sends my state their ground up elephant meat for me to maul over at the polls. The media should remain fair, not go on the attack and defense helping out Romney their candidate.

  • WiddleBabyDanielson

    What has your president renounced or been shunned from (apostate)?

  • Anonymous

    Et oui, ils sont comme ça les amérloques. 

  • Anonymous

    Buddy you need a new tinfoil hat the one you have is leaking.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Silver-Mountain/100003346880778 Silver Mountain

    Hmmm, an excellent question. Let me think about why I used the term “Apostate” describing the occupier in the white house (OWH). I’ll just ponder it for a bit.

  • WiddleBabyDanielson

    Well while you are pondering, you could also save some typing in the future.

    occupier in the white house (OWH) = YOUR PREDIDENT

  • Anonymous

    Hey, take it easy on Romney.  He doesn’t want to hear stuff that upsets him – you know, the little things, like opposition to his coronation.

    http://brettcottrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/mitt-wants-to-hear-your-silence.html

  • Anonymous

    Dear Newb to Mediaite Posting:

    Please go away.  We already have enough nutters on this site.  No one wants another one, especially those who support “Family Values” Newter.

    Sincerely,
    Proud Apostate

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politics-culture-Reasoned-America/100001284363960 Politics-culture Reasoned Amer

    Tommy, the pretense of even feigning some sort of fairness in your writing now has gone by the wayside, eh?
    Seems now, it’s just gonna be an all-out propaganda campaign to re-elect the Marxist in the White House.

    Oh well, add your name to the rest of the mainstreams…it’s still not going to be nearly enough.

  • Anonymous

    Can’t tell if trolling or actually doesn’t know the phrase is pourquoi. I am from SC and I speak french. I hope no one finds out!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Silver-Mountain/100003346880778 Silver Mountain

    Well, I suppose departing is an option. Let me ponder the please go away statement that you proposed to me. I’ll be providing some feedback on that.

  • Anonymous

    You want to go to Fox Nation, Hot Air, Newsbusters, etc., rock on. Pajamas Media would love to have you as well.

    Wouldn’t you feel better amongst your own kind?

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    My sister took French… I took Spanish. I helped her study less than she helped me. It shows.

  • Anonymous

    Why not?  That’s how he went out last time.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R3NAW6BP6XOGI7DMWYDKLR6CKU Buddy

    Good grief.

  • sylvain rondeau

    I
    sincerely hope that my American neighbours will NOT support the racist
    that Newt Gingrich is! What the hell is wrong with a candidate speaking
    French? If it wouldn’t have been for French guns, French powder, French
    money, France’s Navy, France’s army and citizens like Lafayette, the
    American revolution would have failed and the USA would not even exist
    today…

    Sylvain Rondeau, historian
    Montreal, Canada

  • http://www.facebook.com/samtnelson Samuel T Nelson

    She announced before Steve Jobs death was announced. Unless she killed him, she wouldn’t have known. She thought she would have the news media talking about her all day and for the rest of the week.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Gilbert/1356342267 John Gilbert

    Oh my gosh!  If Romney gets elected, this could be a huge blow to the Dumbing Down of America!  Imagine kids wanting to emulate their president by becoming educated!  This is so wrong!  Kids must be taught a politically motivated curriculum being taught out of books lobbied by textbook sellers in their districts.  Who cares what they’re being taught just buy our books!  At least Obama’s just trying to destroy economy and our country.  We don’t need someone building great minds in our kids.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SMUGSPLRKQOJBS5T6I4S5H2YSE Andy-48

    When you said “vise”..were you trying to type visé or just vise? It makes a difference.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SMUGSPLRKQOJBS5T6I4S5H2YSE Andy-48

    You may want to learn how to use Window’s “Character Map”.That way you can type or use the correct. Je suis très heureux de vous rencontrer.

  • http://www.facebook.com/don.naylor Don Naylor

    So how would Gingrich explain speaking Spanish like Obama? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDCAHf8W2e4

  • Anonymous

    Note:  There exists a strong resemblance between Newt and Pigs.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SMUGSPLRKQOJBS5T6I4S5H2YSE Andy-48

    Here I thought that the TPer’s were doing the destroying.

  • http://newsbusters.org/ AliveStiIIKickin

    The comment was tongue-in-cheek and funny as hell.
    LOVED the ad.
    Newt………2012

  • http://newsbusters.org/ AliveStiIIKickin

    Yes…Both are enemies of the Muslim cult.
    Unlike Obama who IS a Muslim

  • Anonymous

    Perhaps a Mass. moderate might be able to beat BO, but Romney certainly isn’t the one.

  • Anonymous

    Hey, there is also this ad of a French Speaking Mitt Romney!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1qBIPCdfE&context=C36b11fbADOEgsToPDskIOEJXeG-if1sYJQdKTxfJ7

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