To the DNC, Mitt Romney is still the presumptive GOP nominee

Two GOP frontrunners are headed for a face-off in Saturday night’s ABC News debate in Iowa. But for Democrats, the focus remains on one man alone: Mitt Romney.

In a pre-debate memo to reporters, Democratic National Committee vice chairman and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak doubles down on the party’s critique of the former Massachusetts governor, while only briefly mentioning former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — despite his rise in the polls.

Rybak says Gingrich’s challenge of Romney in Iowa, evident in the most recent ABC News/Washington Post survey of likely caucus goers, has forced the once presumptive GOP nominee to “abandon his general election playbook in favor of a sharp turn to the right.”