his people might not like him but the rank and file people have liked him. what ellen and cal are saying, the theater part is taking over. the biggest variable as far as the last three debates was cnn, audience participation. nbc, no audience participation. it makes it more entertaining and the surprise was that even though newt had the benefit of audience participation thursday night, it didn t help. for whatever reason, romney was better. san santorum was the star but the media is focused on newt versus romney. the media ignoring a candidate? that possible? that never happens. i think even the establishment thing, i know the voters feel like we don t care with the establishment says because we re antiestablishment. newt is the establishment. the establishment is turning against somebody who is part of the establishment, not against him because he s this
on the tarmac in phoenix. why does the nasty right feel it s okay to disrespect this president so much? let me finish with the joy, and i mean joy, this newt versus mitt romney fight is giving yours truly. we start with the right turning against newt gingrich. steve mcmahon is a strategist. for years he s been the republican of the house. he was a hero. a real ramrod for them in getting things done now all of a sudden, everyone from ann coulter to elliott abrams, all these big shots in the party, all the way over to the right are saying there s something fundamentally wrong with this guy. what happened to newt that they didn t notice before? good evening, chris. first of all, i don t know whether i d ever call ann coulter dainty, but we ll let that slide. i think there are two newt gingrichs. the good newt and bad newt. the good newt is the visionary,
ever course gingrich may not need the republican to win. his appeal is with the tea party crowd. the ones with the pitch forks and torches. while romney attracts the educated types. it s become t-shirts versus tattersall. whoever wins florida will have the inside track to take on president obama. that s a fight that looks increasingly good for the democrats. the president is gaining strength in the new nbc news/ wall street journal poll. his approval rating is the highest since june. americans are feeling better about the economy itself. the big question is this a temporary uptick or the start of something good for the country and the white house? catch this picture of arizona governor jan brewer sticking a finger in president obama s face on the tarmac in phoenix. why does the nasty right feel it s okay to disrespect this president so much? let me finish with the joy, and i mean joy, this newt versus
good evening. tonight, we are live from jacqu jacksonville, florida. site of the cnn republican debate, which is just an hour away. the race between mitt romney and newt gingrich is really tied here. it s a big night. and issue number one for voters here, the housing crisis. no doubt florida residents felt the sting of this headline today. sales down 2.2% in december. may surprise you. no, and florida is one of the worst hit states in the country when it comes to housing. one in every 360 homes in this state received a foreclosure notice last month and almost half of mortgages are under water. you look at orlando, down 60%. they have fallen by more than half and miami and in tampa. in most cases, where there s a housing problem, there is an unemployment problem. and no place more so than here in florida. construction drives everything here and the jobless rate is at 9.9%, well above the national average of 8.5%. all of this playing out in the campaign here. romney and gingric
the rich that romney does? he does, but i think the benefit to him is that romney embodies that tax bracket much more so than what do they want that s different between these class groups if you will, jonathan? well, chris, there are no real substantive differences. it s rhetorical. it s newt who knows how to play the conservative base like a piano because he s been doing it for years. it s very reminiscent of pat buchanan talking about new york and washington. ruth bader ginsburg. i remember those speeches. yeah, goldman sachs, you know, he knows all of the notes to play. and the fact he lives in maclaine, virginia, like pat buchanan did, not exactly the hot bed of populism is irrelevant because it s the message that folks are focused on and not necessarily the messenger who the romney folks have been reminding us now every day is a flawed messenger.