Gingrich Says He's Been 'Romney-Boated' MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa - Newt Gingrich said he felt "Romney-boated" by attack advertisements from Mitt Romney's supporters - a reference to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign that hurt Senator John Kerry's campaign in 2004 - and promised an aggressive, pointed response in New Hampshire and South Carolina. "I probably should have responded faster and more aggressively,"" Mr. Gingrich told reporters here Sunday. "If somebody spent $3.5 million lying about you, you have some obligation to come back and set the record straight."" Mr. Gingrich acknowledged that his campaign had underestimated the damage inflicted by ads and mailers that accused him of influence-peddling because he had earned $1.6 million in consulting work for Freddie Mac. The Iowa race, he said, was still in flux, and his "experiment" in staying positive - a promise he has not always stuck to - could still pay dividends at the caucuses on Tuesday. As the campaign moves to New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr. Gingrich said he would direct ads that point up Mr. Romney's relatively moderate record as governor of Massachusetts - not attacks, he insisted, but a look at the record. "I think you can do very calm, very pleasant ads,"" he said. "The nature of the Republican Party is such that a calm, pleasant ad that says he was for tax-paid abortions, I'm against it" would have an impact. "Romney called himself a moderate as governor,"" he said. But, he added, Mr. Romney registered as a Democrat to vote for Paul Tsongas, a former senator from Massachusetts. "You don't have to get into his Bain career or get into any other things that would get into negative advertising," he said, referring to Bain Capital, the private equity firm Mr. Romney helped start. He acknowledged the damage that the attacks had done to his own campaign, knocking him down "from the 30s to the teens" in Iowa polls - from the top to the middle of the pack in just three weeks. But he said the beneficiary had not been Mr. Romney but other conservatives, principally Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania. "It didn't help Romney at all,"" he said. The larger lesson, he said, was that the majority of Republicans were still seeking a conservative standard-bearer. Asked if Mr. Santorum could be that candidate, Mr. Gingrich said his own credentials were better, and he cited his role leading the Republican takeover of the House in 1994. "I'm not going to say anything negative about Rick Santorum,"" he said, adding that he was a friend. "I think I'm a more experienced national leader with greater experience to change Washington, and that's what I'd make the final argument.""