A meat-and-potatoes approach will work just fine for Mitt Romney during Wednesday night’s debate against President Barack Obama, says former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.
“I think the more Romney can stick to the facts, the more trouble Obama will be” in during the debate, Gingrich told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Tuesday night.
The former House speaker suspects Obama will go after Romney over his tax returns and other personal issues.
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“I think that Governor Romney ought to simply ask the president: How does he justify running for re-election with an economy this bad, policies this failed, and his complete inability to bring Washington together to get anything done?” Gingrich said. “I think it’s a very clear-cut situation. Romney has to go in and be very clear and very factual and stick to his ground.
“Obama will try to over-awe him,” he continued. “And I think Romney’s got to be able to stick straight in there — not flinch, not back off.”
Romney also has to realize he has a second opponent — moderator Jim Lehrer, who is “part of the cultural left,” Gingrich said.
“And so Romney’s going to have to communicate past Lehrer and past Obama to reach the American people,” he said. “If he does that, I think he could have a very good night — and I think you could see a very different race by Thursday morning.”
Gingrich would prefer debates without a moderator. Instead, the candidates could simply have a timekeeper and ask their own questions.
“Let the two candidates make their case,” he said. “When Lincoln and Douglas debated, they had a timekeeper — they didn’t have a moderator.”
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