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Updated 01/22/2012 05:26 PM

Decision 2012: Gingrich Continues His Offense As Romney Promises To Release Tax Returns

By: Tetiana Anderson

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The Republican race for president is now wide open, following former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's victory in the South Carolina Republican primary.

On the Sunday morning political talk shows, Gingrich used his newfound momentum to try and draw clear distinctions between himself and former front-runner Mitt Romney.

Gingrich had been climbing in the polls all week, helped by strong debate performances and support from conservatives, Tea Party backers, and evangelicals.

But even after Saturday night's win, Gingrich still faces challenges, as his campaign coffers are running low and his staff is sparse.

On CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday, Gingrich talked up his years in government as a selling point.

“I have a long level of experience at something called the 'government of the United States. I have a long period of experience at national defense and national security. I am the only persons in this race who has helped balance the national budget four straight times. I'm the only person in this race who led the effort and negotiated with President [Bill] Clinton to get welfare reform, the first big entitlement reform of our lifetime," said Gingrich. "I don't know, Governor Romney may be running for CEO, I'm running for president.”

Mitt Romney, once the clear front-runner with a win in the New Hampshire primary, lost his initial victory in the Iowa caucus and then came in second place in South Carolina.

For a week, Gingrich painted Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" whose personal wealth leaves him out of touch with ordinary voters.

Romney only appeared on "Fox News Sunday," saying he wants to shift the focus back to campaign issues, and he hopes releasing his taxes Tuesday will help do that.

"We just made a mistake in holding back as long as we did. It just was a distraction," said Romney. "We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign — leadership, character vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government."

Both Romney and Gingrich were very clear Sunday on why the other candidate did not deserve the GOP nomination.

“You have a clear establishment candidate in Mitt Romney. Look where his money comes from, look at his background, look what he did in Massachusetts,” said Gingrich.

"I don’t think that the people of this country are going to choose as the next president of this country a person who spent 40 years in Washington as a congressman and a lobbyist," said Romney.

As for former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, both candidates continued their campaigns, despite trailing in distant third and fourth place in the South Carolina primary.

Santorum, who beat Romney in the Iowa caucus by a handful of votes, said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that he believes he is the only clear-cut conservative in the race.

"A lot of conservatives are very concerned about the choice between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich because in their opinion and mine, it's not a choice between a conservative and a moderate. It’s a choice between a moderate and an erratic conservative who on a lot of major issues has been just wrong," said Santorum.

The candidates' next stop is Florida, which holds its primary on January 31.