Buck up, Iowans, the Republican presidential aspirants that have been flooding your airwaves with vitriol and mudslinging for the last few weeks are calling a ceasefire for the holiday weekend.
Nearly all the Republican campaigns and the Super PACs supporting them are toning down or completely pulling their negative ads until at least Monday, a respite for Iowans who have been bombarded by millions of dollars worth of attack ads in the days leading up to the Jan. 3 caucuses.
"Makes sense," longtime GOP activist Doug Gross said of the very brief holiday détente. "We respect Christmas" in Iowa.
Restore Our Future, the pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC which has been hammering Newt Gingrich on the airwaves, is going dark Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after. Make Us Great Again, the pro-Rick Perry group that's been hammering both Romney and Gingrich, is also taking its ads down on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, a media buying source told The Daily.
Ron Paul's campaign, which has also knocked Gingrich down in the polls with its ads, is only airing a Christmas spot this weekend featuring the candidate's son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Candidates who have more positive ads are standing pat.
Gingrich himself is only airing the new ad in which he and wife Callista wish Iowans a Merry Christmas, and Rick Santorum, who is climbing in the polls, is debuting a soft family-focused ad for the weekend. The Super PAC supporting Santorum is sticking with its ad that contrasts their candidate with the others as a "conservative we can trust," but the spot will air less often.
Both Romney and Rick Perry's campaign are keeping up the soft ads that feature their wives.
But Iowans won't have long to escape the negativity: by Tuesday morning, the most damning spots are expected to be back on the air and in full rotation.
CAMPAIGN CEASEFIRE
Republican presidential candidates are pulling their negative ads for the holiday weekend
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