Gingrich goes gloveless in icy New Hampshire

CONCORD, N.H. - Less than 12 hours after finishing in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, Newt Gingrich opened a new, more aggressive chapter in his campaign, taking clear and pointed shots at both Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, who each finished ahead of the former House speaker.

Speaking to reporters after arriving in New Hampshire, Gingrich dismissed Romney's razor thin victory--the former Massachusetts governor ended the night with 25 percent of the vote and only eight more votes than former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

"The fact is, three out of four Republicans rejected him," Gingrich said.

When asked why he chose to congratulate Santorum and not Romney on his caucus success, Gingrich raised his eyebrows as if to suggest the question was absurd.

"I know that's a rhetorical question and a good one," he responded. "I find it amazing the news media continues to say (Romney is) the most electable Republican when he can't even break out of his own party. ... The fact is, Governor Romney in the end has a very limited appeal" among conservatives.

Gingrich flew out of Iowa almost immediately after learning the results of the caucus, landing in Manchester, N.H., in the middle of the night. His comments to the press came just after Rep. Michele Bachmann announced she was suspending her campaign after finishing a disappointing sixth in the caucus.

Gingrich had kind words for the Minnesota congresswoman, calling her a "considerable talent" and a woman with "great courage." But he also took the opportunity to take a swipe at another competitor.

"She did a great job in one of the debates pointing out how disastrously misinformed Ron Paul's foreign policy is." Gingrich said, pointedly bringing up the Texas congressman by name. "I thought she was superb in walking through the reality of terrorism at a time when Congressman Paul, I think, has a fantasy foreign policy that is enormously dangerous to American national security."

Later, when asked to respond to Paul's statement that he "chickened out" and got a deferment during the Vietnam War, Gingrich visibly bristled.

"First of all what he just said has about the same amount of accuracy as the newsletters he says he never wrote," the former speaker said of Paul, referring to controversial racist newsletters written decades ago.

"This is a man who says wild and outrageous things with no facts and then later denies having said them, or wonders who wrote them because it couldn't have been him, even if it was under his name and even if he advertised them," Gingrich said.

Gingrich said that he had young children during the Vietnam War, was automatically exempt from service and that he never asked for a deferment. "I had two children during that period," he said. "I never asked for a deferment because during the period, I was a father and it was automatic."