By the end, it had become a matter of margins. Would Mitt Romney defeat Newt Gingrich in Florida’s Republican primary? Or would Romney obliterate his opponent, reestablishing himself as the race’s undisputed frontrunner? It …
Newt Gingrich
Bracing for a Loss in Florida, Gingrich Reinvents Himself as a Grassroots Insurgent
Tampa
When you throw a party only to show up an hour and 45 minutes late, the least you can do is feed your guests. Once he arrived at a cavernous hangar for a rally on the last full day of campaigning before Tuesday’s …
For Mitt Romney in Florida, It’s All About Character (Attacks)
Pompano Beach, Florida
A political riddle presents itself on the trail with Mitt Romney: Can a true man of character constantly attack the character of another man?
From the first introductions on Sunday, character was presented as the defining, most winning attribute of the former governor: Romney was touted as the candidate whose …
Outstumped and Outspent, Newt Gingrich Flounders in Florida
The Villages, Florida
For a moment, as he gazed out at the gargantuan crowd gathered in brilliant sunshine, Newt Gingrich caught a glimpse of what might have been. Gingrich arrived at this retirement enclave in central …
The Once and Future Front Runner: Why Romney Is Winning in Florida and What Comes Next
In a Republican-primary season marked by political chaos, here’s something that finally seems settled: Mitt Romney will win the Tuesday, Jan. 31, Florida primary. So say the latest public polls, several of which suggest Romney …
A Gloomy Gingrich Struggles to Snap His Slide in Florida
Delray Beach, Florida
“Three nuclear weapons properly placed in Israel is a second Holocaust,” Newt Gingrich tells a room full of Jews. “If you’re going to go to Yad Vashem, if you’re going to say never again,” he …
Fly Newt to the Moon
The emergence of a debate about colonizing the moon might be the goofiest-sounding idea in Republican primaries since Herman Cain proposed an electrified fence along the southern border. The difference is that returning to the moon is an idea that reasonable people take seriously.
Armageddon for Newt
One of the wonderful things about our bloated, endless, tedious, miraculous presidential campaigns is that sooner or later you find out just exactly who these pretenders are. Thursday night in Jacksonville, after 18 debates in which his bluster camouflaged a myriad of flaws, Newt Gingrich’s deficits–the sloppiness, the hyperbole, the …
On Crazy People, the Cayman Islands and Why Democrats Are Taking Notes
The heavyweight tussle in Florida is quickly devolving into a very expensive slap fight. On one side is Mitt Romney, whose aides, having spent days tagging Newt Gingrich with labels like “erratic” and unreliable,” are now upping the ante by recasting Gingrich as a full-on crazy person. “UNHINGED!” read a Romney press release Thursday …
Major League Primary: Why Florida Is the Big Show of the GOP Race
TIME/CNN Florida Poll: Romney and Gingrich in Virtual Tie
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are locked in a virtual dead heat just days before Florida’s pivotal Jan. 31 primary, according to a new TIME/CNN/ORC poll.
Tax Returns and Tithing: How Mitt Romney Gives Away 16% of His Income
When Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns on Tuesday, the one number that probably stood out to many Americans wasn’t his 14% effective tax rate or his $20 million-plus annual income. It was the $7 million he gave to charity …
Gingrich and Romney Compete in the Bully Primary
A few weeks back, two Republican caucus-goers in different Iowa cities told me basically the same thing. One called Newt Gingrich “a bully.” The other called him “a little tiger.” In both cases, the comments were compliments. Like most Republicans, they liked Gingrich when he acted like an ornery pugilist. But at the time, their comments
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