RUSH: Now, I mentioned earlier that Romney is back on the scorched earth attack on Gingrich. And here’s a sample of it. It’s a new Romney ad, features ex-Senator Jim Talent. He’s from Missouri. He’s the guy that ran against Claire McCaskill, the Michael J. Fox ads on stem cells. That’s just who the guy is, so you remember. He was also in the House ’94, ’95, with Newt. So Romney gets Talent from Missouri to record this ad.

TALENT: I served in the House with Newt Gingrich. He would make outrageous comments that would blindside us and undermine our conservative agenda. Chaotic decisions, erratic behavior, it’s a problem when your own leader is the biggest political problem that you’re dealing with, which is why we removed him as the Speaker. This election needs to be about Barack Obama, and if the Speaker were the nominee, the election would be about him and his unreliable leadership in the past. He’s not a reliable leader.

RUSH: Oh, man, folks, this is scorched earth. Remember what the super PAC ads in Iowa did to Newt. Remember how they just sent him over the edge. This is gonna have the same effect. So it’s out there. It’s getting hot. It’s really heating up.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: This is Mitt Romney in Spartanburg, South Carolina, this afternoon at a campaign event. He was speaking about Newt Gingrich.

ROMNEY: The Speaker the other day at the debate was talking about how he created millions of jobs when he was working with the Reagan administration. Well, he’d be in Congress two years when Ronald Reagan came to office. That would be like saying 435 congressmen were all responsible for those jobs. Government doesn’t create jobs. It’s the private sector that creates jobs.

AUDIENCE: (applause)

ROMNEY: Congressmen taking responsibility, or taking credit for helping create jobs is like Al Gore taking credit for the Internet.

AUDIENCE: (laughter)

RUSH: Ooh! Mitt getting tough out there with the fisticuffs, comparing Newt Gingrich to Algore.