Mitt Romney came in tonight’s debate coming off the worst week of his campaign — two terrible performances last week, getting blown out by Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, seeing his lead evaporate in Florida and nationally. But tonight, he had a generally strong performance. In the exchange most likely to be talked about, he absolutely destroyed Gingrich by methodically exposing his untenable position on his work for Freddie Mac, about which Tim Carney has written a great deal. Not only was Gingrich put on the defensive during that exchange, but unlike last week’s debates, in which he fed off the energy and applause of the crowd, the subdued audience tonight seemed to sap his passion and energy.
Romney, who decided to release his tax returns tomorrow, was more at ease answering the question about them However, he faltered a bit when asked what he did to advance conservatism — a question I had raised earlier today. Seizing on this after the debate, the Gingrich campaign sent around an email headlined, “Mitt Romney’s Top Conservative Achievements” — and the body was blank.
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Rick Santorum was largely overshadowed throughout the debate, and didn’t get as much time to speak as Gingrich or Romney. But when he did speak, he did well. He had a strong answer on why the consequences of a nuclear Iran would be unacceptable. And toward the end, he made a very effective case for himself over Romney and Gingrich, essentially saying that conservatives couldn’t risk backing a fair-weather conservative, because any Republican who makes it into office is going to be under tremendous pressure to abandon conservatives.
Ron Paul isn’t competing in Florida, so his debate performance isn’t likely to effect the dynamic of the race, and it wasn’t overly eventful.
Tonight’s debate was very low-key compared to the South Carolina debates, which were racous affairs. It’s unclear whether that will mean it will have less impact than last week’s debates on public opinion. But if voters in Florida were wacthing and influenced at all by tonight’s debate, it may have slowed Gingrich’s momentum.
