Gingrich Defends Stances in Debate

By JONATHAN WEISMAN and SARA MURRAY
WSJ

SIOUX CITY, Iowa—Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used a televised debate Thursday to try to keep momentum going in his front-running presidential campaign. But he found himself on the defensive over his consulting work for Freddie Mac, his positions on Medicare and the question of electability.
In the Running

Mr. Gingrich parried the attacks and insisted he could beat President Barack Obama next year. ""Barack Obama will not have a leg to stand on in trying to defend a record that is terrible and an ideology that is radical," he said.

The debate, the 13th of the Republican campaign, was the final televised showdown before GOP voters begin choosing nominating convention delegates, starting Jan. 3 with Iowa's caucuses. The issue of electability in the general election emerged immediately as a centerpiece.

Some Republicans have framed the 2012 election as theirs to lose against a president with weak poll numbers. But national surveys show Mr. Obama is in a virtual dead heat with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and ahead of Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Gingrich asserted in the debate that at this time in 1979, Ronald Reagan was 30 percentage points behind Jimmy Carter, an incumbent he would trounce 10 months later.

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