Gingrich Tells Supporters in New Hampshire He Wants a 'Positive Campaign'

WINDHAM, N.H. – Newt Gingrich announced Monday evening that he would be writing a letter to his staff and surrogates underscoring the importance of running a positive campaign, saying he would "publicly disown" any super pac that runs a "nasty ad" in his name and would advise supporters not to donate to them.

It was quite a successful night for Gingrich, who received a standing ovation from a packed high school auditorium of over a thousand people. So many supporters came that some had to watch his town hall in overflow seating on a projection screen in the cafeteria.

Gingrich asked the crowd for their support, especially since "I wouldn't be at all surprised in Iowa to have $9 million spent against me in negative advertising."

Despite his pledge to be positive, Gingrich couldn't resist making some underhanded jokes about his opponents. He appeared to win over the audience with allusions to mistakes made by his rivals on the trail

Talking about the right to bear arms, Gingrich inserted a verbal footnote that Concord, "by the way was in Massachusetts," alluding to Michele Bachmann's early gaffe.

Gingrich said the Founding Fathers conceived the right to bear arms as a right that proceeded the Constitution because they knew they would have otherwise been defeated in Concord and Lexington.

He also repeated his vow to challenge President Obama to seven Lincoln-Douglas style debates should he become the nominee.

"Some people have said to me that he wouldn't take it, in fact someone today bet me ten dollars he wouldn't, " Gingrich said.

The ten dollar reference, of course, was to contrast to the ten thousand dollar bet Mitt Romney tried to make with Rick Perry at a recent debate in Iowa.

The latter joke had a whiff of the sparring Gingrich and Romney engaged in early Monday.

Mitt Romney labeled Gingrich a Washington insider in an interview on Fox News. He called on the former House Speaker to return the $1.6 million he had received from Freddie Mac as a consultant.

"That would make him the highest paid historian in history," Romney sneered.

Gingrich retorted, "If Governor Romney would give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over the years at Bain, then I would be glad to listen to him. But I bet you $10 not $10,000, that he wouldn't take the offer."

The sharpness of the remark was in significant contrast to Newt Gingrich's lighter demeanor at night.

A ninth grader stepped up to the microphone in the audience and criticized Congress for categorizing pizza as a vegetable, since so many people, including the freshman himself, have struggles with weight.

Gingrich commended the young man and said he, too, has problems with weight but joked, "I concluded God wanted me to be raccoon rather than a gazelle."

It was also all smiles and mutual pats on the back at the "Lincoln Douglas" style debate with Jon Huntsman in the afternoon at Saint Anselm college.

Huntsman was asked afterwards why he didn't take on Gingrich in some of his more pointed comments. For instance, as some reporters paraphrased, Gingrich's charge Iran would use nuclear weapons in a heartbeat if they got them or that if Israel were destroyed, that would end virtually end Judaism on the planet.

"You didn't challenge him on these things," a reporter criticized.

"Well, we had a discussion on the issues and we laid it out for the American people," Hunstman replied. "And you know they can take from it whatever they want."

Huntsman is hardly considered a major rival to Gingrich, polling fourth behind Romney, Gingrich, and Ron Paul in New Hampshire.