MADISON, N.H. – Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich clashed bitterly yesterday over how they made money, an unusually sharp exchange that reflects the tightening presidential primary race in a crucial state long seen as a Romney stronghold.
The sparring began when Romney told a Fox News audience that Gingrich should give back the $1.6 million in fees he earned consulting for Freddie Mac, the semipublic mortgage giant seen as responsible in part for the housing bubble that burst three years ago.
Gingrich shot back: “If Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, then I would be glad to then listen to him,’’ Gingrich said, referring to Bain Capital, Romney’s private equity firm.
“I would bet you $10, not $10,000, that he won’t take the offer,’’ Gingrich added. The challenge echoed Saturday night’s debate, where Romney proposed a $10,000 bet with Governor Rick Perry of Texas.
Asked about the significance of Romney’s $10,000 wager proposal, which critics have used to paint him as wealthy, Gingrich said, “I was startled because I know Rick Perry pretty well. I couldn’t imagine he could cover that. He’s been a public servant his whole career.’’
Yesterday’s exchange came just four weeks from primary day, with the race tightening after nearly a year when Romney faced no serious threat. Gingrich, who by one poll has climbed to within 9 points of Romney, came yesterday to New Hampshire for the first time in weeks.
“I’m now, by a big margin, the front-runner,’’ Gingrich said in Londonderry, citing two new polls that show him ahead in Florida and South Carolina. “I’m behind a little bit here, so I need your help to finish off here. It will be quite a race between now and January 10.’’
Romney, for his part, ceded front-runner status nationally to Gingrich in an interview with the website Politico.
Even while Gingrich has become a focus for Romney advisers, there are also signs that they are concerned with Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah, who has spent weeks holding events in New Hampshire. Romney’s campaign has sent a tracker to videotape Huntsman’s events. Huntsman usually plays along, making note of the tracker to the audience.
“We always knew it would get close at some point,’’ said Jim Merrill, Romney’s New Hampshire adviser. “You feel it. You feel the energy right now; we’re a month out, and it’s time for contrasts.’’
Those contrasts came sharply yesterday.
In addition to criticizing Gingrich for the Freddie Mac fees, Romney sent an e-mail to the media calling Gingrich an “unreliable leader’’ and criticizing his former support for action on climate change.
At a campaign event held in a lumber yard in Madison yesterday, Romney also took Gingrich to task for his criticism earlier this year of House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to privatize Medicare.
“Speaker Gingrich was exactly wrong on that,’’ Romney said. “Someone said he might hit the ground running, but not in the same direction I would go.’’
Gingrich, speaking to more than 200 employees at Insight Technology in Londonderry, said he planned to run a positive campaign. “The contest here will be between the power of positive ideas versus the power of negative advertising,’’ Gingrich said.
But when asked afterwards by reporters about Romney’s call on him to return the Freddie Mac money, Gingrich did not hesitate to attack Romney’s record at Bain Capital.
Romney, in turn, bristled when reporters informed him about Gingrich’s comments about Bain Capital after meeting with and taking questions from voters in Madison.
“Doesn’t he understand how the economy works?’’ Romney said. “In the real economy, some businesses succeed and some fail. That’s how that works. You try to encourage the more successful – and fortunately for many people tens of thousands of jobs, actually over 100,000 jobs, were created through the investments that we were able to help make.
“There’s a big difference between working in the private economy and working on K Street – and working as a lobbyist, or working as a legislator, or working to connect businesses with government,’’ Romney said. “If he was working as a spokesman for Fannie Mae – excuse me, Freddie Mac – if he was there because of his political connections, and then if Freddie Mac fails, I think a fair question is asked: Why did he profit as Freddie Mac failed?’’
When reporters asked Romney about Gingrich’s comment on the negative advertising he said he faces, Romney suggested his campaign may turn in that direction.
“We aren’t running any negative ads at [this] point, but we may,’’ he said. “This is, after all, politics. There’s no whining in politics.’’
Romney has also shifted in recent days to talking more openly about his personal life and, in particular, his Mormon faith. For the second straight day, he brought up his faith as a way to show his compassion for people in need and his ability to relate to people of modest means.
“I had the occasion to counsel with people,’’ he said when asked by a voter about the perception that he is too wealthy to understand the concerns of the poor. “Sometimes with people with marital problems. Sometimes with a child that was errant. And a lot of times with people who had financial difficulties.’’
He said his church had vouchers for people to get food from its warehouse and that he helped people in the Spanish-speaking, Cambodian-speaking, and Chinese-speaking communities in the Greater Boston area.
“What impressed me was that we’re all the same in the things we aspire for, the things we love: our families, our faith, our country,’’ he said. “People are patriotic, rich or poor; being out of work for a long period of time is real tough. And it’s not the fault of the person who’s out of work. Overwhelmingly it’s the fault of our economy.’’
Romney has for months been consistently at the top of the polls in New Hampshire, a state where he has a vacation home and where he has spent the most time campaigning. He has been endorsed by the state’s biggest Republican names, including onetime governor John Sununu, former senator Judd Gregg, and Senator Kelly Ayotte. Yesterday, Mayor Ted Gatsas of Manchester endorsed him.
Like in other states, his campaign in many ways is testing whether a superior organization and adherence to traditional campaign methodology will be enough to overcome the emotional firepower that other candidates engender in their supporters.
Gingrich has closed the gap with Romney in recent weeks. A CNN poll of New Hampshire voters released last week had Romney at 35 percent, Gingrich at 26 percent, and Representative Ron Paul of Texas at 17 percent. CNN’s October poll had Romney at 40 percent, Gingrich at 5 percent.
Still, the race remains fluid, with 48 percent of voters saying they were open to changing their mind.
“Nobody’s making up their mind until the very end of this thing,’’ said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. “In 2008, two days before the election, voters hadn’t decided yet. A lot can happen.’’
But in a race that at one point seemed like a cakewalk for Romney, Smith added, “At least there’s going to be a campaign.’’
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Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. Shira can be reached Schoenberg at sschoenberg@globe.com.