Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican from Hiawatha, compared Newt Gingrich to Terry Branstad as Paulsen announced his endorsement of Gingrich in a statehouse news conference. Paulsen said he has noticed Branstad’s “intensity of purpose” over the last year, driven by his time out of the governorship and returning with an agenda to enact.

Paulsen said he sees the same intensity of purpose in Gingrich and, according to Paulsen, that should “frighten the political elite and the insiders” in D.C. because Gingrich has had “time to develop a plan” since he’s been out of congress.

“He is a Washington outsider,” Paulsen said, adding Gingrich would “shatter the D.C. Beltway status quo.”

A small group of Occupy Des Moines protesters jumped up and started chanting when Gingrich began speaking. They left the room, then one who stayed behind rose a couple of minutes later and tried to talk with Gingrich. who said he would “be glad to talk to you outside” after the news conference is over.

Gingrich was asked about the payroll tax extension & he offered this observation:  ”I have no idea what it would be like” to negotiate with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Newt Gingrich had a “tele” town hall this morning with Iowa voters and his opening statement included somewhat of a rebuttal to the slings and arrows he took in Thursday night’s debate over his $1.6 million in work for Freddie Mac, Romney’s  comments this a.m. in South Carolina and this Wall Street Journal editorial.  

“I just want to set the record straight. We had a company. The company had three different offices. We were paid annually for six years, so the numbers you see are six years of work. Most of that money went to pay for overhead, for staff, for other things that didn’t go directly to me. It went to the company which provided consulting advice & our advice included how do you help poor people earn the right to be in a house & to be a homeowner. I had spent years working with Habitat for Humanity. I believe deeply in trying to help people have the right to have a home. I think it’s a good part of being an American to own property and I’ve been very much in favor of property ownership which is also why I’m for the abolition of the death tax so that family farms aren’t forced to be sold because you can’t afford to pay the federal taxes when the parents die.

“In that setting, I also want to say I have never once advocated that people do something for Fannie or Freddie. I do not in any way work on influence, per se. I’m a public figure. I make public speeches. Everybody can go look at what I’ve said in public.  I actually suggested they needed more regulations & that’s actually in writing on their website,so you can go look @ it yourself. That’s an area where people have just said things that are wildly inaccurate and don’t reflect anything about how I’ve operated or what I’ve done.

“I want to be this open and this straight so everybody can see the record.”

At the conclusion of the call, Gingrich said:

“I’m inclined, because of the extraordinary negativity of the campaign, I’m including to every couple of days do  his kind of an ’ask Newt’  conference call & jus tlet people have a chance to talk about ideas and encourage them to raise any of these things that you get in the mail that are junk and dishonest and I’ll be glad to personally answer so you’re hearing it from my very own lips. You’re not, you know, we don’t have our advertising versus their advertising, but you get to ask me directly.”