Gingrich surrogates suggest Romney would lose to Obama

{mosads}”This is not the kind of person who can head our ticket and take on the president of the United States if he doesn’t have the support of the conservative base,” Smith added.

Gingrich has intensified criticism of Romney heading into the New Hampshire primary, clearly frustrated that negative ads from the former governor and Ron Paul have derailed his once-leading campaign. Earlier Thursday, Gingrich released an ad criticizing Romney’s economic plan as “timid,” the first ad from the former Speaker that directly called out another candidate.

In an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg, Gingrich vowed to amp up his efforts.

“We’re going to have a great time with Romney in New Hampshire,” Gingrich told Bloomberg. “He’ll win, probably, but it will be much more interesting than he wants.”

“Each race generates a wave of national media,” Gingrich added. “My goal is to have this become a race between a Massachusetts moderate and a Georgia conservative.”

Former Ohio Congressman Bob McEwen piled onto Romney too during the campaign’s conference call, arguing that “a Massachusetts moderate is not going to sound a trumpet that is going to change course in America.”

“Who in these critical states are going to rally to an Obama light?” McEwen said.