(Image Source: ABC News)

BY ALYSSA CARTEE & CHRISTINA HARTMAN

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

Wanna make a bet?

$10,000 bucks says Mitt Romney’s well-to-do wager Saturday night ends up in Democratic attack ads.

Here he is at the ABC News debate in Iowa.

ROMNEY: “Rick I’ll tell you what. $10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet?”
PERRY: “I’m not in the betting business.”
ROMNEY: “Oh, okay.”
 

For a candidate already battling allegations of being out of touch, Romney’s $10K offer might not have been the best idea. A political columnist for The Des Moines Register took to Twitter to point out...
 

“Not too many Iowa caucusgoers are the sort to offer a $10,000 bet, even on a sure thing.”
 

But first, a little explanation. The high-priced haggle was over whether Romney had ever called an individual mandate to buy health insurance -- a model for the country. Perry says he did, and he’s made that charge before.
 

For context: When he was governor of Massachusetts Romney signed a health care law that mandated coverage. Some Republicans now hate the plan because they say it looks too much like President Obama’s.

Perry points to Romney’s 2010 book “No Apologies” -- where the former Massachusetts governor says quote “we can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country.”

PERRY: “I read your first book and it said in there that your mandate should be the model. I know it came out in the reprint. But you were for individual mandates, my friend.”
 

It’s true when the book was re-printed in February of this year, that particular quote was left out, but The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler had looked into it the last time Perry levelled that charge and concluded -- Perry’s stretching the truth here.
 

“...Perry had substantially overstated the significance of the changes in the text. For instance, what is in the paragraph just above this sentence, unchanged in both editions of the book? ‘My own preference would be to let each state fashion its own program to meet the distinct needs of its citizens.’”
 

And that’s exactly how Romney has defended his plan all along. Still -- the $10,000 bet thing is likely to follow him through the primaries...
 

Less than 24 hours later, Rick Perry took to the Sunday shows to hammer his opponent.
 

“Well, I was taken a little aback. Driving out to the station this morning I’m pretty sure I didn’t drive by a house that anyone in Iowa would even think about a $10,000 bet was possible. A little out of touch with the normal Iowa citizen.”
 

But on CNN, a Romney supporter says the bet’s being taken out of proportion -- and uses it to take a jab at Newt Gingrich --- who earlier this year had to defend his high-end spending.

“He used a figure of speech. I think the only thing that will come out of that is it’ll remind people about a $500,000 outstanding bill at Tiffany’s. Those are not the things you should judge whether somebody should be a president or not. You should judge them on their programs.”
 

Whether or not supporters believe it will make an impact, fellow candidates are jumping on the opportunity.


Jon Huntman’s campaign posted a video on YouTube right after the debate entitled “Challenge Accepted.” The video shows the clip from the debate, followed by several clips from Romney’s past that Huntsman says prove Romney will lose the bet.
 

The camp also put together a website -- 10kbet.com -- which shows articles and videos claiming Romney owes Perry ten thousand dollars.

Iowans caucus on January 3rd.