Fearful Of Him Or Not, Democrats Give Romney Chilly Reception In New York City
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mitt Romney takes Manhattan.
The Republican presidential candidate was in New York on Wednesday, tapping Wall Street for campaign cash.
But as CBS 2's Marcia Kramer found out, he didn't exactly get the red carpet treatment from everyone.
An airplane flying over the Hudson River trailed a banner that read "Bet you 10K Romney's out of touch." Needless to say it wasn't the warmest of welcomes. In fact, it was more like a Bronx cheer.
"By pointing out very dramatically the really insensitive nature of his remarks when he turned to Rick Perry and offered as $10,000 bet, that demonstrates very clearly how wildly out of touch Mitt Romney is with the people in this country," New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs said.
Romney could certainly take the attack as a sign that the Democrats think he might be a more formidable candidate against President Barack Obama than Newt Gingrich. After all, the Democrats left Gingrich alone when he was in the Big Apple last week.
But of bigger concern to Romney is a new poll that has the former Speaker of the House surging -- maybe as the flavor or the week, but maybe not.
The national poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC has Gingrich at 40 percent and Romney at 23 percent.
That was certainly topic one among all the rich businessmen and politicos who trouped to several fundraisers Romney held here Wednesday. Are they worried about Gingrich?
"I'm in the football business. I always worry about everybody, but I have a lot of confidence that Mitt in the end will prevail," Jets owner Woody Johnson said.
"I think Mitt is going to make it. Romney is organized in all 50 states and this thing is a marathon. It may not be the same as in year's past where there is a knock out in the first three states. I think it could go to the big states, who weigh in later in the season," former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld added.
The Gingrich surge has Team Romney on the offensive. His campaign unveiled a new attack ad that seeks to position Gingrich as an "unreliable conservative" who doesn't hesitate to dance with the left.
The ad uses a commercial Gingrich did with Nancy Pelosi supporting Al Gore's "liberal" global warming agenda.
Romney is expected to leave the city with millions more for his campaign. After breakfasts at the Cipriani, lunch at the Waldorf, he was to attend an evening fundraiser at the home of Blackstone founder Steve Schwartzman.
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