With Gingrich on the Rise, It's No More Mr. Nice Mitt

Looks like it's no more Mr. Nice Mitt. With Newt Gingrich suddenly ahead of him in the polls, Mitt Romney says he's getting more aggressive, with more ads, campaign stops, and media appearances. "We're just starting. We're just getting up ads. We're making our closing argument," he said yesterday in Arizona, after grabbing an endorsement from Dan Quayle, the Washington Post reports. Earlier he told Fox News that he was "going to make sure that the differences" between the two candidates "are well aired."

"You can be sure I will not be quiet," he promised, according to the LA Times. "If Americans want someone who's been in Washington the last 40 years, then that's him." Expect subtle digs at Newt's marital escapades, sources tell ABC News; yesterday, for instance, Quayle trumpeted Romney's integrity "in private life," and Romney intends to accentuate that difference by having his wife, Ann, be a more frequent presence on the campaign trail. Romney's team also sees Newt's temperament as a weak spot—as one aide put it, "Newt never does well when he's doing well." (More Mitt Romney stories.)