Kingston: Santorum muscles way into contention, predicts negative Romney campaigning

{mosads}Fehrnstrom characterized the pair as “longtime Washington legislators who never really left Washington,” and argued their nomination would mean a general election between “two insiders” as they faced President Obama in November.

The Romney campaign has also hit Santorum for accepting earmarks and voting to raise the debt ceiling during his time in Congress.

Kingston predicted these attacks, paired with a series of upcoming debates, could help Gingrich regain momentum in the race.

“We’re going back into debate season. We have four debates between now and Super Tuesday, which is Newt’s home court advantage,” Kingston said. “We’re feeling good about things.”

Kingston went on to say that he expected Gingrich to focus on campaigning in the Southern states where he has preformed best thus far — and that offer some of the best opportunities to bridge the delegate gap. The Gingrich campaign announced later Wednesday that the former Speaker would return next week to campaign in Georgia, the state he represented while serving in Congress.

Still, Gingrich can expect conservatives who do not support Romney to suggest he consider an exit from the race to allow the right to coalesce around Santorum.

But Kingston said that Santorum’s new prominence would earn him the brunt of the negative campaigning in coming weeks.

“Mostly from the Romney folks,” Kingston said. “I think the super-PACs will come in there as well.”