It appears that Newt Gingrich’s terrible debate performance Monday night did not get lost in this week’s busy news cycle after all. Two new polls show that Mitt Romney has not only erased the brief lead Gingrich had after the South Carolina primary, but is now surging ahead.
First, CNN posted a poll conducted Sunday through Tuesday showing Romney barely ahead of Gingrich 36 percent to 34 percent. But CNN also reported that while Gingrich was up in Sunday’s interviews, 38 percent to 36 percent, Romney had pulled ahead in Monday and Tuesday’s interviews by a 38 percent to 29 percent margin.
Now Insider Advantage has posted a poll affirming the pro-Romney swing first detected by CNN. In a poll of 530 likely Republican voters conducted entirely on Wednesday, Insider Advantage found that Romney was up 40 percent to 32 percent.
After tonight’s CNN debate, there is not another Republican debate till February 22nd in Arizona. If Newt turns in another bad performance, and loses Florida by double-digits, the primary will be all but over.
Campaign 2012
Gingrich: Campaigning in Cocoa, Florida, Newt Gingrich explained to an audience of NASA Space Coast voters how he plans to colonize the moon. “I wanted every young American to say to themselves, ‘I could be one of those people,’” Gingrich told voters. “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American,” Gingrich said.
Florida: The Washington Examiner‘s Susan Ferrechio reports that even though Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl., has not endorsed Mitt Romney, his criticism of a Newt Gingrich ad has amounted to as much. “He’s been a very controversial person and to me that’s a factor in the election because I think independent voters are less likely to vote for Gingrich than they would be for Romney,” Jorge Machado, who was born in Cuba, tells The Examiner. “It is very important we have a candidate that can become president.”
Democrats: The Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. and Priorities USA, Obama’s Super PAC, are all spending heavily on radio and TV ads attacking Mitt Romney in Florida.
State of the Union: President Obama’s State of the Union Address was the lowest rated of his presidency, down 12 percent from last year’s speech.
Polls: A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans believe the economy is improving, thus aiding Obama’s reelection chances. Some 30% believed the country was headed in the right direction, up eight percentage points from a month ago and for the first time in seven months, the poll found that more people approve of Mr. Obama’s job performance than disapprove, 48 percent to 46 percent.
General Election: A new Quinnipiac University poll, released early on Thursday, shows Obama and Romney tied among registered voters, with both at 45 percent. Against Gingrich, however, Obama leads by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent.
Around the Bigs
The New York Times, Fed Signals That a Full Recovery Is Years Away: The Federal Reserve, declaring that the economy would need help for years to come, said Wednesday it planned to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014.
The Los Angeles Times, Two Obama initiatives to address foreclosure crisis face hurdles: Obama’s plan for struggling homeowners can’t start until Congress approves higher taxes on banks and his aggressive probe of financial firms’ mortgage practices has to contend with existing state investigations across the country.
USA Today, President Obama’s energy plan panned by both sides: Neither energy producers or environmental activists believe Obama’s energy agenda will accomplish anything. Frances Beineicke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, says Americans share Obama’s goal of energy independence, but “much more needs to be done” to protect the environment from increased domestic drilling.
The Hill, GOP prepares bill to replace Obama’s Supreme Court-bound healthcare law: Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., promised yesterday that House Republicans will have a bill that will repeal and replace Obamacare by the time the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the legislation.
Arizona Republic, Brewer, Obama exchange tense words over book, immigration at airport: President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer got into a heated exchange on the tarmac of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport over Obama’s criticism of Brewer’s new book. At one point Brewer pointed her finger at Obama who walked away from her mid-sentence.
The Wall Street Journal, Indiana Right-to-Work Bill Advances: The Indiana House passed legislation Wednesday that would ban contracts requiring employees to pay union dues, ending Democratic efforts to block the bill and making final adoption almost certain for the country’s first right-to-work law in more than a decade.
Righty Playbook
The Washington Examiner‘s Tim Carney notes that even though Obama promised “no more bailouts, no more handouts” in his State of the Union address, the economic policies he then advocates were nothing but legislative favors for special interests.
In National Review, assistant secretary of state in the Reagan Administration Elliott Abrams documents how Newt Gingrich repeatedly insulted President Reagan throughout the 1980s.
Michelle Malkin posts an email from Media Matters to Senate Democrats, that was also accidentally sent to Senate Republicans, coordinating on how to message about the Keystone XL pipeline.
Lefty Playbook
Talking Points Memo reports that Democrats are planning to attack Mitt Romney for not supporting amnesty
Jared Bernstein attacks Politfact for their half-true rating on Obama’ job-growth claims.
ThinkProgress attacks Mitt Romney for explaining how, because of double taxation, his real effective tax rate is closer to 45 percent.
