Democrats and Republicans alike have accused US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney of being out of touch with ordinary Americans after he said he would make a $10,000 bet with party rival Rick Perry.
Republican Mr Romney did not back away from the comment, made during a TV debate yesterday — but said he had been told he was not a good gambler.
He said his wife told him after the debate he had done a good job and did many things well, but “betting isn’t one of them”.
Mr Romney’s Republican rivals and Democrats used his remark to portray him as out of step with the concerns of most normal Americans.
They say $10,000 represents more than three months’ salary for most people. Texas governor Mr Perry said that kind of money was “pocket change” for Mr Romney.
The former Massachusetts governor said he was confident of his standing in the Republican primary field, even though former US House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich has soared to the top of opinion polls nationally and in early primary voting states like Iowa and South Carolina.
Mr Romney still holds a solid lead in New Hampshire, where he owns a vacation home, but has lost ground over the past month to Mr Gingrich.
"It's very fluid. These polls have bounced all over the place in the past year," Mr Romney said.
"I think I will become the nominee," he said, adding the primary process "could go on and on and on" before a winner is declared. "We are prepared to go on a nice, long and highly successful campaign," he said.
Mr Romney and his fellow candidates will be back in Iowa for another debate on Thursday hosted by the Iowa Republican Party. The state kicks off the state-by-state Republican nominating process to pick the party's candidate to challenge pPresident Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.
One of Mr Romney's co-chairs in the midwest state, attorney Brian Kennedy, said he was not worried by Romney's debate misstep.
"Jobs and the economy, those are the issues that are going to drive the election,"Mr Kennedy said. "When the focus has been there, Mitt Romney's done quite well."
In yesterday's town hall meeting, Mr Romney made a rare campaign trail reference to his Mormon religion, telling a lengthy anecdote about how his missionary work in France in the late 1960s helped shape his worldview.
The usually buttoned-down candidate, who "grew up in a home with a great deal of affluence," described using outside squat toilets and paying "a few francs" to use a public shower once a week while living on on shoestring.
"Most of the apartment I lived in had no refrigerators, no showers. No bathtubs," Mr Romney said.
"I became much more serious about my life," he said. "I came home looking forward to getting an education so I could lift my family."