Look out, Mitt Romney’s breaking out the attack rhetoric: Romney Warns of Nominating ‘Zany’ Gingrich.

Mitt Romney is sharpening his warning to Republicans about the consequences of nominating Newt Gingrich, declaring in an interview on Wednesday: “Zany is not what we need in a president.”

“Zany is great in a campaign. It’s great on talk radio. It’s great in print, it makes for fun reading,” Mr. Romney told The New York Times. “But in terms of a president, we need a leader, and a leader needs to be someone who can bring Americans together.”

“Zany?” That’s the worst he can do? I’ve always thought of “zany” as kooky, but in a funny, comical sort of way. Jim Carrey is zany, for example.

I think a better word for Gingrich might be “loony,” connoting “deranged, sociopathic, and dangerous.”