Gingrich backers in Congress hold firm

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By Daniel Malloy

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Trent Franks is on challenging terrain when wooing his congressional colleagues to back Newt Gingrich for president.

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Elissa Eubanks, eeubanks@ajc.com Marietta Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey is backing Newt Gingrich's run for president.

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“The main hesitation with members here, of course, is they want to be on the winning side,” said Franks, an Arizona Republican. “And they don’t want to add to the contention in the primary, and I understand that.”

The contention spiked in recent weeks as the so-called Republican establishment rallied to attack Gingrich after he won the South Carolina primary, helping former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney trounce Gingrich in Florida. Many party leaders argue that Gingrich’s slash-and-burn style is damaging the party’s chances in the fall against President Barack Obama.

But Gingrich retains a small band of loyalists in the exclusive insider realm of Congress who continue to rally to his side.

“Right now, Newt’s my man,” said Marietta Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey, who backed Romney in 2008. “The former Speaker is who I think the country needs. He’s electable. He can and will beat Obama.”

Ten members of the House (five from Georgia) have publicly backed Gingrich, according to a list compiled by The Hill newspaper, while Romney has 73 members of the House and Senate in his corner.

Franks was particularly appalled by the Romney camp's questioning of Gingrich’s connections to President Ronald Reagan. Romney allies replayed old statements from Gingrich that were critical of Reagan policies and accused him of overselling his connections to the 40^th president.

“Mr. Gingrich has a number of elements in his record that could be criticized accurately," Franks said. "But to suggest that he was somehow anti-Reagan or to suggest that Reagan was anti-Gingrich is preposterously untrue.”

Another Gingrich supporter, Savannah Rep. Jack Kingston, deflected suggestions that Gingrich is the one lobbing unfair attacks.

“This is a schoolyard brawl at this point, we all know that,” said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe earlier this week.

The former speaker’s congressional backers insist, for the most part, that the battlewill only strengthen the eventual nominee.

But Coweta County Rep. Lynn Westmoreland expressed unease at the tone of Gingrich’s attacks on Romney, particularly those stemming from his days as head of the investment firm Bain Capital.

“I think Newt needs to, and I hope that he will after the Florida primary, sit down and re-evaluate,” Westmoreland said. “I think [voters] want to know what you’re going to do and what your future plans are, rather than what somebody else did.”