Newt should have responded to Mitt’s accusations like this:
“I’ve stated before, and will say again, that Governor Romney’s accusations are false and misleading. I’ll explain it in full later, but let me say right now, that all of us are up here to DEFEAT OBAMA. Governor Romney seems more interested in distorting my record to make me look bad, and his own record, to make him look good, rather than focus on the real reason we’re all up here, which is the worst President in our lifetimes, Barack Obama...”
then dive right into Obama.
“I’ve stated before, and will say again, that Governor Romney’s accusations are false and misleading. I’ll explain it in full later, but let me say right now, that all of us are up here to DEFEAT OBAMA. Governor Romney seems more interested in distorting my record to make me look bad, and his own record, to make him look good, rather than focus on the real reason we’re all up here, which is the worst President in our lifetimes, Barack Obama...”
Yep, and if he had, the audience would have ignored the "no applause" rule and it would have "been on."