The LuLac Edition #1914, January 24th, 2012

The Monday Night Florida debate starring Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

FLORIDA DEBATE # 1

After South Carolina, comes the crucial Florida primary and on Monday night Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich tangled over the semantics on whether the former House speaker engaged in "influence peddling," was a citizen publicly advocating for a certain position, or a "consultant" skirting lobbying disclosure rules.
Romney charged Gingrich with lobbying without registration on behalf of Freddie Mac, Gingrich responded with a convoluted answer. Gingrich said he hired lobbying disclosure experts study the regulations who advised him of what he could and couldn't do in order to legally avoid registering as a lobbyist. The reason he didn't want to register, he said, was to avoid being accused later of influence peddling. Huh?????????? I mean read that sentence over a few times and think whether it came from a prospective President and not a magician!
Gingrich had previously claimed that Freddie Mac hired him as a "historian” .
The Gingrich campaign later sent out a release calling the candidate a "small businessman”. So what is it, a historian, a consultant, a lobbyist? Newt is starting to remind me of the old cartoon from my childhood, “Little Johnny Everything”.

The Romney campaign is hoping Florida will be a firewall for the former governor's White House chances. Romney has spent millions on advertising in the state, and Romney has enjoyed an early advantage in the polls — one his campaign hopes transfers to the over 225,000 early and absentee ballots that have been cast.
However the contest is closed to registered Republicans which means the electorate might be composed of the more conservative voters that fueled Gingrich's win in South Carolina. Gingrich is hoping that dual wins in South Carolina and Florida could crush the aura of inevitability Romney built around his campaign.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul has pretty much decided against mounting a huge offensive in Florida. However the good doctor had spent much of the debate voicing his patented message, railing against government spending and U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the winner of the Iowa caucus and a third place finisher in South Carolina (he garnered 100,000 votes) he reminded viewers of Gingrich’s troubles as speaker, and the positions taken by Romney in the past that run counter to the GOP base. Santorum brought up the health care plan Romney espoused as Governor in Massachusetts and Gingrich’s support of a government mandate for health care.
Santorum, has said he will continue fighting forward in Florida, but would need a strong debate performance and more money in order to compete. Santorum wants to stay as the logical alternative to Gingrich. However Gingrich was more subdued and toned down in comparison to his Thursday night appearance in South Carolina and his raucous victory speech on Saturday. It appeared he frustrated the attacking Romney who wanted to engage him on a more volatile level but the former Speaker wasn’t biting. The debate was on NBC TV and moderated by NBC anchor Brian Williams.