Newt Gingrich must have thought he finally had the perfect answer to Mitt Romney’s attacks on Gingrich’s contract with Freddie Mac’s top lobbyist. “We began digging after [the last debate] because, frankly, I’d had about enough of this,” Gingrich said early in last night’s debate. “We discovered, to our shock, Gov. Romney owns shares of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
At first, it appeared Gingrich had thrown Romney of his game. Romney began a rambling answer about blind trusts and mutual funds that could only turn off working-class voters. But it turns out Romney was just getting warmed up. He turned the question back on Gingrich and said, “Have you checked your own investments? You also have investments through mutual funds that also invest in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
The crowd, supposedly Gingrich’s strength in debates, went wild with applause and cheers for Romney’s answer. Gingrich could only feebly mumble something about how poor he was compared to Romney. He looked weak, disorientated, and hypocritical.
Gingrich needed a big win last night to reverse the accelerating trend of voters going for Romney. Not only did Gingrich not get that win, Romney beat him handily at his own game.
Florida Debate
The Washington Examiner‘s Michael Barone: “Mitt Romney won big in the first hour of the debate. Rick Santorum did very well in the second hour. Newt Gingrich was surprisingly defensive…”
The Washington Examiner‘s Byron York: “All in all, Thursday was simply a bad night for Gingrich. … after a lackluster performance in last Monday’s debate, and with his poll numbers slipping a bit in Florida, Gingrich needed a strong performance, and he didn’t get it.”
The Washington Examiner‘s Phil Klein: :A week ago tonight, Newt Gingrich slapped down CNN’s John King, who cowered when asking the former House speaker about his ex-wife’s claim that he had requested an “open marriage.” But tonight, Gingrich experienced the John King-moment in reverse as moderator Wolf Blitzer refused to back down when Gingrich tried to weasel out of talking about Mitt Romney’s tax returns and offshore investments, reminding the former House Speaker that it was he himself who raised the issue by making the comments.”
National Review‘s Rich Lowry: “Newt needed a big night to turn around the momentum and he didn’t get it. He struck me as tired and too ticked for his own good.”
National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg: “Gingrich exposed a key vulnerability to his debate superpowers: he feeds off the energy from the audience. If Romney and his team figured that out and tampered with his energy source, that’s smart politics. It’s not like the President of the United States never has to speak to audiences that don’t cheer attacks on Saul Alinsky.”
Cal Thomas at National Review: “Romney won the evening in his head-to-head with Gingrich, but no one in the audience received much information on what these men would do.”
The Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack: “Thursday night’s debate in Jacksonville was Gingrich’s best opportunity–and most likely his only–ahead of Tuesday’s primary to reverse Romney’s momentum. But far from landing a knockout blow, it was Gingrich who was thrown back on his heels.”
The American Spectator‘s James Antle: “Gingrich seemed tired, unprepared, and off his game tonight — bad timing for the former House speaker. Romney had some clunkers — he got caught redhanded on the anti-Newt attack ad, the line about not making his own investments could come back to haunt him, and he denied being politically involved during a time period that included a Senate campaign — but he had the better showing overall.”
Campaign 2012
Romney: Some investments listed in Mitt and Ann Romney’s 2010 tax returns – including a now-closed Swiss bank account and other funds located overseas – were not explicitly disclosed in the personal financial statement the GOP presidential hopeful filed in August as part of his White House bid. And The New York Times reports that Romney actually paid more than he owed.
Gingrich: Newt Gingrich’s campaign complained that Mitt Romney’s campaign packed last night’s debate auditorium with his supporters..
North Carolina: Gov. Bev Perdue announced she will not seek reelection this year, a move appreciated by Obama’s reelection campaign since the Democrat is wildly unpopular in the state and was expected to weigh down the party ticket statewide.
Rubio: Reuters ran a hit piece on possible Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that contained a multitude of obvious factual errors. Reuters has already corrected at least five of them.
Around the Bigs
The Wall Street Journal, Recovery Doesn’t Feature Typical Snapback in Growth: The Commerce Department will release its preliminary estimate of economic growth for the final quarter of 2011 today. Most economists believe the number will be far below the 7 percent rate the economy grew during the Reagan recovery.
The Hill, Obama-backed electric car battery-maker files for bankruptcy: Ener1, an electric car battery company that the Obama administration awarded a $118.5 million stimulus grant, filed for bankruptcy Thursday.
The Washington Post, Pentagon budget set to shrink next year: President Obama will shrink the size of the defense budget to pre-1998 levels by reducing the size of the Army and Marine Corps, cutting the number of fighter aircraft and ships, and seeking congressional approval for another round of military base closures.
The Washington Post, Lobbying dips sharply in 2011: Lobbying activity plunged in 2011 for the first time in a decade, most likely driven by gridlock on Capitol Hill.
The New York Times, Egypt Bars Exit of Six Americans: The Egyptian government has confirmed that it has barred at least a half-dozen Americans from leaving the country, including Sam LaHood, son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The New York Times, Waning Support for Wind and Solar: Despite falling prices, wind and solar companies are still begging Congress for more subsidies since even they admit they cannot be truly competitive and keep creating jobs without more years of government support.
Righty Playbook
AEI‘s James Pethokoukis posts a chart showing how badly economic growth has suffered under the Obama recovery.
National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg explains how Obama’s State of the Union shows he doesn’t understand America.
Lefty Playbook
Grist‘s David Roberts believes subsidies for failing cleaning energy companies is a winning wedge issue for Democrats.
Talking Points Memo‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro says Obama’s State of the Union shows that Democrats have fully embraced the Occupy Wall Street movement.
ThinkProgress posts a chart previewing how the Obama campaign will attack Romney using his tax return.
