After two combative debates in South Carolina that helped change the trajectory of the Republican race, the first of two debates in Florida was relatively low key and seems unlikely to change anything. With good answers and very good luck, Mitt Romney recovered after a tough week that had two mediocre debate performances, nagging questions about his taxes and wealth, and a 12-point loss in South Carolina, a state polls had him leading by double-digits just six days before Saturday’s vote.
If debates are more a series of moments than fluid discussions of policy and process, Romney had two good moments. The first came during his relentless prosecution of Newt Gingrich on the question of “influence peddling” – and it was a moment of silence. Romney pressed the former House speaker on his work for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on potential conflicts of interest in his health care lobbying and his businesses, on his the ethics charges brought against him, and on claims that he “lobbied” members of Congress on the prescription drug entitlement. Gingrich initially tried to ignore Romney’s critique but that proved too difficult, so he engaged.
