GOLDEN Republican presidential hopefuls blitzed Colorado on Monday in a last-minute push for votes in tonights caucuses.
Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all held events in the state.
Santorum has been concentrating especially hard on Colorado, and Romneys campaign, sensing an improvement in the former Pennsylvania senators fortunes, unleashed attacks on him for the first time.
Gingrich, meanwhile, visited Colorado for the first time in the campaign, rallying supporters at a hotel in Golden. The crowd of about 200 was smaller than what other candidates have been attracting.
He continued taking swipes at Romney, saying the GOP always loses when it nominates moderate candidates.
The elite media would love to talk us into nominating another moderate, Gingrich said. Just remember, their number one interest is to re-elect Barack Obama.
Gingrich told the crowd that if elected, he would immediately approve the Keystone XL pipeline a proposed oil pipeline from Canada and open a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem as a signal of the countrys commitment to Israel.
Gingrich, campaigning with his wife, Callista, also kept up his criticism of Romneys statement last week that he doesnt care about the very poor in America because they have a social safety net to support them.
The safety net doesnt protect you from falling. It becomes a spider web that traps you in dependency, Gingrich said.
Romney turned to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to rip into Santorum for the first time. Minnesota and Missouri are also holding votes today.
Rick has been holding himself out as the perfect conservative, or the only conservative in the race. But if you look at his record, hes not a perfect conservative by a long shot, said Pawlenty, who dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Romney last year.
Pawlenty cited Santorums vote for numerous earmarks, including Alaskas infamous Bridge to Nowhere.
Santorum, in Colorado stops last week, had attacked Romney for creating the health insurance mandate in Massachusetts similar to the one that Democrats adopted nationally in 2010.
But in a sign of his confidence in the Colorado results, Romney announced plans for a caucus-night rally in Denver.