Gingrich aims to cement lead at Republican debate

All guns will be aimed at former House speaker Newt Gingrich as he works to cement his lead for the Republican presidential nomination at a debate in the key first voting state of Iowa on Saturday. Main rival Mitt Romney, trying to regain his frontrunner status, is expected to take his gloves off and attack Gingrich's conservative credentials while trying to position himself as the more reliable candidate. Conservative darlings Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann may take even sharper jabs as they try to boost their trailing poll numbers by winning over evangelicals put off by Gingrich's personal baggage of adultery and divorce. "This debate is going to be probably the most important of the debates so far," said Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University. "We now suddenly have a frontrunner in Newt Gingrich who is seriously ahead and unless his momentum is slowed down, the whole dynamic from Iowa onward is going to change." Gingrich, who has tried to position himself as the party's elder statesman and urged his rivals in past debates to stay positive, will have to maintain his cool and avoid gaffes that could torpedo his campaign. The debate comes just three weeks before Iowa holds the party's first nominating event on January 3. The largely rural midwestern state barely figures in the general election, but has become key in the nominating races. Given up as politically dead months ago, Gingrich surged to the front of the pack in recent weeks as early contenders Perry and Herman Cain saw their support collapse amidst big blunders and sex scandals. "It's the debates that really saved his campaign," said Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa. "He was able to hang in there while these other candidates surged and faded." Polls this week show Gingrich with a significant lead over Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who had been seen as the party's best chance of beating President Barack Obama in 2012 despite the fact that he was unable to win over the party's conservative base. Gingrich currently has the support of 27 to 33 percent of likely Republican voters both nationally and in Iowa, while Romney's support ranged from 16 to 23 percent. Longshot libertarian and congressman Ron Paul was the only other candidate to get out of single digits. Gingrich has also narrowed Romney's robust edge in New Hampshire, which votes on January 10, and is ahead of him in South Carolina and Florida, which vote on January 21 and January 31, respectively. But while Gingrich may be polling well now, he's also going to need to translate that into campaign cash and a strong organization if he is going to be able to sustain his lead. One big hurdle is the fact that Gingrich did not have the money to build up a significant campaign structure before now. That could make a big difference in Iowa, which holds caucuses, where party members debate who to choose instead of simply filling out a ballot. Those with strong campaign organizations are better equipped to ensure supporters show up on a cold Tuesday night in January. "What Romney's got to do is try to cut into that lead," Hagle told AFP. "If Gingrich comes out of Iowa with a huge amount of momentum, even if he doesn't win New Hampshire it will help him going into South Carolina and Florida where Romney has been fading." Romney fired opening shots at Gingrich Thursday with a blog titled "With friends like Newt, who needs the left?" and a new ad airing in Iowa and New Hampshire heavily emphasizing Romney's four decades of stable marriage. A group of evangelicals took an even sharper tone in a bitingly satirical video that blasts Gingrich as the "Kim Kardashian of the GOP" and calls him "the walking, talking definition of untrustworthy."