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Former House speaker Newt Gingrich's lead over the Republican field dwindled slightly over the weekend, as an influential Iowa newspaper endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Gingrich's lead slipped a point from 29% to 28%, according to Gallup's daily ballot tracking, while Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas held steady to 24% and 10% respectively.

Gingrich was unfazed Sunday by The Des Moines Register's Romney endorsement and said it solidified him as the true conservative in the race.

"I'm actually delighted because the Manchester Union Leader, which is a reliably conservative newspaper, endorsed me," Gingrich said on CBS' Face the Nation. "The Des Moines Register, which is a solidly liberal newspaper, did not endorse me. I think that indicates who the conservative in this race is."

Gingrich, who has led Romney in recent polls, has spent the past few days defending his conservative credentials in the wake of blistering ads run by rival campaigns in Iowa ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses.

He has increased the promotion of his plan to change the court system to eliminate "activist judges" -- a cause popular with GOP conservatives.

Gingrich told Face the Nation that judges who make a decision that a president believes violates civil liberties should be reviewed and possibly dismissed by the other two branches.

"I'm suggesting that when there are decisions in which they're literally risking putting civil liberty rules in battlefields, it's utterly irrational for the Supreme Court to take on its shoulders the defense of the United States," he said. "It's a violation of the Constitution."

He brushed off concerns raised by Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge and attorney general in the administration of President George W. Bush, who during an interview with Fox News called Gingrich's plan "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."

"I think many lawyers will find this a very frightening idea," Gingrich said. "They've had this run of 50 years of pretending judges are supreme, that they can't be challenged."

Mukasey's comments are another sign that some Republicans would rather not see Gingrich lead their ticket as the early-state primaries draw near.

Pundits from columnist George Will to Red State blogger Erick Erickson have questioned Gingrich's conservatism, his temperament and his sometimes contradictory positions. The National Review, a conservative magazine, editorialized against Gingrich on its website Wednesday, saying that Gingrich could blow the Republicans' chances of retaking the White House and controlling Congress.

Perhaps more serious, Republican members of Congress who served with Gingrich during his time as House speaker are making it clear they don't wish for another ride with Gingrich at the wheel -- and that although he won the House of Representatives for the Republicans, he couldn't win the White House away from President Obama.

"I don't think he has the mental discipline, the consistency or the ego control to be a good nominee or a good president," says Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., first elected in 1992, two years before Gingrich's Contract With America propelled him to the speakership. "It's a long way from April to November. That's, to me, too long a period of time for Newt not to screw up."

"He's a little bit like a sober Charlie Sheen," says Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio, who came to Congress in Gingrich's 1994 Republican surge. "He just kind of shouts stuff out."