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Mitt Romney will not take part in March 1 debate in Georgia, the final debate before Super Tuesday on March 6, his campaign said Thursday. And Rick Santorum looks like he will sit it out as well. [snip] By not attending the debate, Romney’s campaign appears to be trying to de-emphasize its importance and instead relying on his overwhelming financial advantage on the airwaves. Romney’s campaign and a super PAC supporting him have all but drowned out their opponents with ads. The debate is in the state Gingrich represented in the U.S. House, but both Romney and Santorum have signaled...

What keeps Rush, Levin, Prager, Hannity, etc -- or a combination of them -- from calling a debate for any candidates willing to show up? Then we could get some meaningful questions for inspecting the candidates' philosophies. They could not decline a Rush/Hannity/Levin cosponsored debate. The candidates have plenty of open days on their schedules.

This ad is great. Check it out: http://www.newt.org/news/newt-2012-releases-new-ad-what-kind-man

...we are seeing citizens being invited to “participate” in various forms of meetings...to “help determine” public policy in one field or another. They are supposedly being included to get ”input” from the public ... in one of these meetings... ...you will find that there is already someone designated to lead or “facilitate” the meeting. ... Actually, he or she is there for exactly the opposite reason: to see that the conclusions reached during the meeting are in accord with a plan already decided upon by those who called the meeting. The process used to “facilitate” the meeting is called the...

Hosted by Wolf Blitzer at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.Word is the audience will be "allowed" to participate.Livestream here.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Early Thursday morning -- about 12 hours before the final debate of the Florida primary -- Newt Gingrich was filled with indignation about Mitt Romney's investments. In the most recent debate, in Tampa, Romney had hit Gingrich hard over Gingrich's consulting deal with Freddie Mac. But in the intervening days, Gingrich had learned that not only did Romney have campaign surrogates who actually lobbied for Freddie and Fannie -- he also had personal investments in the two mortgage giants. So Gingrich got ready to attack. "Here's a guy a who owns Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stock,"...

Rick Santorum found his FIRE. Remarkable improvement over his last debate when he let mittens slap him like a rag doll. He found his FIRE last night and destroyed mittens with facts about RomneyCare! God bless you Rick! Florida picks Rick! Hands down. I cant wait to see the data on the number of votes vs $$$ spent in campaign! I believe it will be the lowest cost per vote EVER for Rick. Who needs $$$ when you have votes! Having said thst, please send Rick a note of congrats include a check if you can, but at least send...

I am a Newt supporter. So far he hasn't been too fiery. That being said, I refuse to support Romney. If its not Romney, I'm ready to support a Ron Paul third party candidacy. Romney is a gun grabbing socialist with no integrity. If we have to have a gun grabbing socialist in the Whitehouse, I'd rather it be a Democrat.

There is NO WAY I will vote for Romney here in Florida. You can check my record here and you will see that I have been emphatically supporting him. But as I watch this debate tonight, it seems as though he has said and done virtually everything wrong. Is Santorum the last hope here? God help us; I wish Ron Paul was not a nut on foreign policy. I guess we need to focus on the Senate.

<p>When CNN convenes its GOP debate tonight, the moderators should tell the audience to shut up.</p> <p>Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that he wouldn’t “allow” moderators to ask live audiences to remain silent during debates. He won the South Carolina primary on his appeal to two insufferably partisan debate audiences last week, but he stumbled this week in a debate before a silent crowd.</p>

When you compare the substance of the so-called rowdy mob debates in South Carolina with the serious Brian Williams exercise in Florida, there is simply no contest. Yes, it is true. The substance of the supposed cockfights in Carolina was actually far more intellectually important and informative than anything that was accomplished in Tampa. Frankly, what these debates must have are intelligent, concerned, and rowdy crowds to keep the feckless and clueless liberal moderators on the subject of anything important. Moreover, their reaction to the passionate and articulate defense of conservatism is a good way to motivate the candidates to...

Last night's GOP debate in Tampa probably did not shift things dramatically. Neither "frontrunner" had a particularly great night, so I guess NBC and Brian Williams were the winners, for their assist in having the candidates make each other look bad. Rick Santorum had a reasonably strong night, but I don't know that it's going to fundamentally alter his candidacy's increasing sense of irrelevance. Mitt Romney obviously took some of Mark Steyn's advice and displayed more "fire in the belly;" at least when it came to forcefully attacking Newt Gingrich on multiple fronts. However, attacking other candidates in these debates...

Last night, my friend Peter Ingemi expressed his dissatisfaction with the NBC debate — and the presidential debates in general — by proposing that Hot Air run a Republican primary debate, moderated by yours truly. Peter says he’s “dead serious” about this: Just watched yet another GOP debate and was totally unamazed by the lack of questions on fast and furious and BS questions such as: “Why did theBush Tax Cuts fail?”. I think political types are sick of questions from people who want the GOP to fail.I have a solution:I suggest Hotair send an invitation to each candidate for...

(CNSNews.com) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says it was "wrong" for debate moderator Brian Williams to silence the "free speech" of the debate audience in Tampa. At the start of Monday night's debate, Williams said, "We've asked our invited guests here this evening to withhold their applause, any verbal reactions to what they hear on stage, so as to ensure this is about the four candidates here tonight and what they have to say." Never again, Gingrich told Fox & Friends the morning after: "I wish in retrospect I'd protested when Brian Williams took them (the live audience) out...

In 1989, Bain Capital purchased controlling interest in Damon Corporation, a medical testing company located in Needham, Massachusetts. During the time that Bain held its ownership of the company Mitt Romney personally sat on the Board of Directors. And during that same period, Damon Corporation was busy submitting fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare to the tune of millions of dollars charged for unnecessary blood tests. ... By the time Damon pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States Government of $25 million - and paid a total of $119 million in what was, at that time, the largest penalty of its...

January 24, 2012 Newt Gingrich on 'Fox & Friends' 2012 candidate talks Florida primary

Everything seems very serious, very important, very consequential now. The earlier debates — months ago — were looser. The eight or nine candidates would bounce onto the stage. Romney would greet Bachmann with a big mwah. Cain would smile brightly. The atmosphere was almost festive. But now we’ve gotten down to the nitty-gritty — crunch time. Newt immediately links himself to Reagan. Remember when pundits swore the Gipper couldn’t win? he says. He also points out that Reagan’s economic program was labeled “voodoo economics.” That was Bush 41’s — the future Bush 41’s — line, of course. But the 1980...

Angry Newt" took the night off. In a striking role reversal, Newt Gingrich looked more like a firefly than a firebrand in a high-stakes debate Monday night, while rival Mitt Romney called the surging former House Speaker a disgraced, influence-peddling, Washington insider. Somebody must have awakened the cool-and-nonchalant Romney out of his debate slumber and told him the GOP nomination was slipping away. Gingrich stunned the political world -- and frightened much of the GOP establishment -- with a landslide victory in South Carolina on Saturday night that erased Romney's lead in national and Florida polls. (SNIP) Gingrich's stunning South...

Is it just me, or does Romney look really rough and ragged tonight? He is coming off as very desperate. I'm trying to watch with my Newt glasses on. Is it just me and my bias or is everyone else getting the same impression.

All four remaining GOP candidates have been confirmed for tonight's debate sponsored by NBC News, the Tampa Bay Times, The National Journal and the Florida Council of 100. The debate will take place at the University of South Florida in Tampa. This will be the first of 2 debates this week focusing on the Florida GOP primary on Tuesday, January 31st. Note the air times on the east and west coast. Television Air Time: Monday, January 23rd at 9pm ET, 8pm CT and 9pm PT on NBC Live Streams: (airing 9pm ET) NBCPolitics.com, National Journal, and TampaBay.com Participants: Gingrich, Romney,...

Tonight in Tampa, Florida, the four men left in the Republican presidential nomination fight will gather for the 18th — yes, 18th! — time in the race to date. Tonight in Tampa, Florida, the four men left in the Republican presidential nomination fight will gather for the 18th — yes, 18th! — time in the race to date. CHARLESTON, SC - JANUARY 19: Republican presidential candidates (L-R) former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) listen to a question from moderator John King (R) during...

Dear Friend, In this video commentary, I discuss who won last night’s Republican debate in Charleston, South Carolina. One man won the debate. The other will win the election! Tune in!

"I am someone who believes in free enterprise, I think Adam Smith was right, and we're going to get hit hard by Barack Obama, but we're going to stuff it down his throat that it is capitalism and freedom that makes us strong." Mitt Romney said.

Did you watch the Republican presidential debate in Charleston, S.C., last night? Well, I did. No, I didn’t watch it in Charleston itself: You know what I mean. Just a few notes for you. CNN plays some pounding, gladiatorial music as the candidates emerge from the wings. Incredibly vulgar, I think. Oh, our democracy! Mitt Romney has a bit of a buzz in his voice. You know what I mean? You can hear it the second he opens his mouth. I think his first words are, “Hi, guys.” And then he says (I think), “And then there were four.” There...

The GOP debates have come to a close in South Carolina. As Rick Perry resigned from the presidential primaries, he left an endorsement for Newt Gingrich, turning the pressure on for the last four candidates to make a significant mark in the hearts and minds of voters in the Palmetto State. Thursday’s debate opened with CNN moderator John King referencing recent allegations made by Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife in an ABC interview, in which she says could destroy Newt’s campaign. When King asked the former Speaker of the House if he wanted to take some time to respond to the claims,...

When it comes to leaders in Washington, D.C. who really seem to "get it," who really seem to have their finger firmly on the pulse of the American mainstream, who demonstrate repeatedly an uncanny grasp of reality and an ability to dissect and address the issues that matter most to Americans, it's tough to name anyone who fits that mold worse than Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. After all, it was Reid who once took it upon himself to explain the rigors of our tax code by counseling how "[o]ur system of government is a voluntary tax system." This,...

CNN SOURCE: 'WE HAVE REPUBLICAN DEBATE OF YEAR TOMORROW NIGHT. WE ARE GOING TO LET THEM JUST GO AT IT'... DEVELOPING..

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: This is Maureen in Orlando, I'm glad you waited. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello. CALLER: Gosh, Rush, I'm so excited to speak to you on this exciting day. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: Let me just preface, yesterday was the first time I stood in front of my television and cheered, when Newt was speaking, since Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech. It was fabulous. RUSH: Yeah, I remember that myself. CALLER: Yeah. You know what, I just want to say, I've been getting called all morning from people, my friends, which, I'm just a stay-at-home mom...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to go back to debate sound bites. We've only gotten through six of these, and they've been very powerful. Mike, grab the montage which is audio sound bite number two, 'cause that sets it all up. I asked Cookie to do a montage of Newt's greatest lines with the applause left in from last night's debates and then play the full sound bite from which sample comes from. GINGRICH: Only the elites despise earning money. AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause) GINGRICH: I know among the politically correct you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable....

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: From the debate last night, here's Frank Luntz. This is with Hannity after the debate last night. LUNTZ: I've never seen it in a debate, a standing ovation in the middle of a debate. Remember, there's only five candidates up there so you would assume that only 20% would award them their support. Newt Gingrich got a standing ovation, and he did so fighting with your own Juan Williams over the whole welfare issue. RUSH: Yeah, but Newt did something last night that he's not done before. Juan Williams asked the question, and Newt just answered it...

Question at town hall: "What I've been looking for in my candidate is fire in the belly. We’ve got to bloody Obama’s nose. You've mentioned challenging him to seven, three-hour debates. He has this armor of media surrounding him. If he doesn’t agree to that, how do you plan to aggressively take the gloves off and go after him?" Newt Gingrich: "Let me say first of all, I don’t want to argue with you about the analogy. I don't want to bloody his nose, I want to knock him out."

GOP stowaway reportedly handing-out fresh power-packs... They once planned to clean-up in SC Supporters wait anxiously for arrival of misguided pacifist Messiah Danger, Will Robinson, DANGER! Noot vs Wackadoodle Ron video/more at Reaganite Republican

I saw this coming from a mile away. Mitt Romney’s original position that he would not release his income tax returns, a position he held to for several weeks, now is slipping. At the debate last night Romney gave a convoluted answer that he “probably” would release the tax returns in April — after he likely will have wrapped up the nomination if he stays on the current trajectory. The answer was cringe-worthy:**snip**Newt is not letting it go: "Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney should release his tax returns before primary voters head to the polls in South Carolina on Saturday....

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Frank Lunz was on the FOX Post Debate Analysis last night after South Carolina Debate. He made the statement that in 16 years of following Debates, that was the first time he'd ever seen a candidate get a Standing Ovation. Newt did not just get a Standing "O" from his supporters but, by-and-large from the entire crowd when he defended his comment about Barack Obama being the "Food Stamp President" and his stance on young Blacks needing a work ethic rather than government assistance. Newt didn't just "knock it out of the park" once last night. He "knocked it out...

Gingrich missed an opportunity to question Romneycare's s support of tax payer funded abortions. That was a layup.

The debate in Congress over the best way to shut down foreign websites that steal U.S. copyright material and sell counterfeit goods could be about to shift. At least that's the hope of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who outlined their strategy during a Wednesday press briefing with reporters at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The unlikely partners have teamed to oppose two bills in the House and the Senate, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) that would shut down foreign websites by forcing search engines and domain...

In this video I'm addressing the all important topic of debate skills, which seems to be the primary reason for backing Newt. Also adressed is the convoluted matter of Romney's past profession (Bain).

In this morning's GOP presidential debate, NBC moderator David Gregory asked Texas Governor Rick Perry a question about electability. Governor Perry took it a step further and laid out the three big questions primary voters should be asking themselves: "Who is it that can beat Obama? Who is it that can invigorate the tea party? Who is it that can take the message of smaller outsider government that's truly going to change that place?" While the mainstream media and party establishment have been obsessed with that first question for months, the other two have been virtually ignored in their zeal...

So last night after an unusually drab and downbeat article about the ABC debate, I am feeling a little better today. Finally the GOP candidates took on Mitt Romney in several ways that found him defending Gay Rights, Working across the aisle with Democrats, his liberal Massachusetts record, and funding programs for the poor. That being said, after a debate like this where even Jon Huntsman got the better of Mitt Romney if the Mitt train can’t be stopped now, I don’t think it will be. The good news is that because of Mitt Romney’s huge polling lead in New...

“I just want to raise a point about the news media bias,” Gingrich said after a rhetorical skirmish about gay marriage. “You don’t hear the opposite question asked. “Should the Catholic Church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples, which is exactly what the state has done? Should the Catholic Church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won’t give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic Church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration on key delivery of services because of the bias...

The five Republicans candidates trying to emerge as the alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney engaged in fratricidal combat on a stage at St. Anselm College Saturday night as the former Massachusetts governor aimed his political barbs at President Obama. With just days remaining before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday, the candidates trailing Romney in the polls decided to battle each other for second place rather than focus on the candidate running far ahead of them in the polls. Romney smiled as the other candidates attacked each other and defended his record against occasional, mild criticism from GOP rivals. But...

What was going through the minds of the GOP candidates Saturday night when they engaged in a circular firing squad — and largely gave GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney the kid glove treatment at the big televised ABC debate? As California Democratic campaign consultant Bob Mulholland laughingly told us afterwards (he got a ticket to sit in the debate hall at St. Anselm College): “What was wrong with these guys? If any one of them had punched him out, they would have made the headline of the night.” Yeah, well, move along, there’s nothing to see here. The guy who showed...

Mere hours following the antagonistic ABC interrogations, David Gregory gets his turn, hoping for verbal pyrotechnics Sunday morning.

Usually I go candidate by candidate and talk about how they did, but there is no need tonight. If you ever disagreed with the thought that “this is a weak Republican field” you need look no further than tonight’s debate. Weakness was all over that stage, especially when it came to attacking Mitt Romney! I really thought after Iowa and Rick Santorum’s essential “tie” with Mitt that tonight would have played out much different. Tonight was the night to take Mitt down! Tonight was the night we had a real champion in Rick Santorum! Finally the conservatives and the tea...

Trying to watch the ABC debate - but Diane Sawyer and Georgie Stephanopolous are just awful. The questions are irrelevant and they have (yet again) gone out of their way to pick cat fights. I think a new low. Thoughts?

Two GOP presidential debates in New Hampshire this weekend will most likely have very little to do with the results of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. With the latest poll showing former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with a whopping 40% of support in the Granite State, the real show will be how the three remaining conservatives in the race perform.

Gingrich-Obama Debate is the political equivalent of the Ali-Frazier Fight of the Century. Forget Santorum, Perry, Bachmann, & Romney. If you are conservative, votes for Santorum, Perry or Bachmann are wasted votes, since they cannot communicate the conservative message as well as Newt Gingrich. Remember, millions of Americans would pay money to see the political equivalent of the "Ali-Frazier fight" in a debate between Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama. In contrast, a debate between Santorum and Obama or between Romney and Obama would attract far less attention. Please, GOP voters, keep our best conservative candidate in the ring by voting...

.... take a moment to remember what happened the last time Obama squared off against a smart and eloquent, but bombastic, pompous and egomaniacal Republican. ....."Moreover, [his] self-assuredness disabled in him the instincts for self-censorship that allow most people to navigate the world without getting into constant fistfights. [He] said whatever popped into his mind, and with dogged logic would follow over a cliff just about any idea that came to him." These words describe almost perfectly the intellectual and rhetorical bearing and style of Newt Gingrich. Only they weren't written about Gingrich. They are Barack Obama's words -- from...

.....5. Rick Perry had the most publicized communication failure of the year with his brain freeze in remembering his third point in a very public setting. The Rule of Three is good, but you don’t want to say “There are three things…” in advance in a very public forum such as a Presidential Debate unless you know you will remember them. Or have them in your notes. So he could have topped the Worst list with that faux pax along with his early amateurish debate performances, marked by halting mannerisms, jerky style and hostile attacks. But he’s here in the...