Romney Stays On the Offense With Gingrich, The NY Times, January 26, 2012, by Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zelany, excerpts quoted verbatim:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mitt Romney, facing his greatest challenge of the campaign so far, relentlessly pressed Newt Gingrich on Thursday night in their final debate before the Florida primary, seeking to regain the offensive against an insurgent challenge that has shaken his claim to inevitability.

On immigration, personal finances and the grand ideas that have been the trademark of Mr. Gingrich’s candidacy, Mr. Romney gave his rival no quarter, giving prime time voice to his campaign’s all-out, round-the-clock assault on Mr. Gingrich here.

In a debate in which Mr. Romney could ill afford to allow Mr. Gingrich another triumphant night, he delivered sharp lines that gave him an advantage usually held by Mr. Gingrich: applause from the audience.

…

Mr. Gingrich started the week with all the momentum here after his victory in South Carolina. But he has subsequently come under relentless pounding from the Romney campaign and its supporters, a battering that appears to have had some impact….

Romney Packed Debate Hall
With Supporters, Gingrich Aide Says

WASHINGTON — Members of Newt Gingrich’s campaign accused Mitt Romney’s campaign of packing the audience for the Republican presidential candidate debate on Thursday night in Jacksonville, Fla., with its own supporters to ensure that the dynamics would be favorable to Romney….

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich
square off in Republican debate

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich sparred here Thursday night over immigration, taxes and wealth, lobbying, and colonizing the moon in a debate that underscored the potential consequences of a loss for either of the leading Republican presidential candidates in Tuesday’s high-stakes Florida primary.

Romney went on the offensive, as he had in a forum on Monday. The former Massachusetts governor said it was “repulsive” for the former House speaker to label him “the most anti-immigrant” candidate in the field. He blasted Gingrich’s moon proposal, saying that if someone had brought it to him, his response would have been “You’re fired.” He goaded his rival into a discussion of his taxes.

Mitt & Newt Spar Over
Who Is *More* Pro-Immigrant

A few debates ago, when the Republican candidates for president gathered in Florida, the then-frontrunner Rick Perry expressed compassion for illegal immigrants on stage ended up publicly apologizing and never recovering.

Lesson learned: stick to the hardline when it comes to immigration. Well, that was then. At the Thursday night’s debate — the last before Florida’s primary on Jan. 31 — Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney got into a very spirited debate about who would be nicer to grandmothers who happen to be in the United States illegally.

Mitt Romney Goes After
Newt Gingrich’s Mental State

Mitt Romney is making the homestretch of the Florida primary race in part a battle over Newt Gingrich’s mental state.

Greg Sargent snagged a copy of a Romney mailing going out in Florida that paints this in stark terms: Gingrich is “Unethical. Erratic. Reckless.” the mailer reads.

But this is just the latest in a string of less-than-veiled hits on Gingrich’s mental condition coming from Romney surrogates and Romney himself.

At a press conference in Tampa, FL Monday before the NBC News debate, Romney described Gingrich this way:

“I think as you look at the speaker’s record over time, it’s been highly erratic…You know, he voted in favor of establishing the Department of Education, and yet he gets in a debate and says we should get rid of the Department of Education and send all the education issues back to the states. He’s opposed vehemently to the Massachusetts health care system, and yet just a couple years ago wrote about what a superb system it was.

He’s gone from pillar to post almost like a pinball machine, from item to item in a way which is highly erratic…It does not suggest a stable, thoughtful course, which is normally associated with leadership.”

Commentary by Paul Evans: You know, I can’t quite decide whether or not the attacks on Gingrich’s “erratic” proposals are a brilliant tactic by Romney’s people or not. In any case I hope Obama’s people are paying close attention to these somewhat factual accusations, as it seems to me that using Gingrich’s state of mind and mental inconsistencies over the years, would be an effective line of attack in the general election. If you are a Democrat, you really have to hope that Gingrich might win the nomination. There are plenty of lines of attack there open for Obama.

Gingrich might get away with rhetorical tricks now, or for the time being have some success with his ability to use the English language, with which he has some facility, to twist the facts around, but he is open to attacks and problems from his personal life….I can see Obama’s people “licking their chops” in anticipation. And he won’t get away with B.S. accusations such as those he’s tried to pin on Romney, nor these weird ideational flights that he sometimes comes out with, such as a base on the moon. It does seem that Gingrich comes up with these high flown ideas and doesn’t vet them, he just puts them straight out there, without proper evaluation. I suppose it has something to do with his intellectual egoism. Overall, his record strikes me as raw meat that Obama and his people would chew up and spit out in the event of his nomination.

It’s not that Gingrich isn’t intelligent, it just seems to me that he belongs in some well-funded think tank, and not really on the national stage or as the GOP nominee. Unless you are a strong Democrat, in which case you would probably be hoping for Gingrich’s success (until the general election).

Also See Newt + Tea Party = Obama Landslide, Daily Kos, January 26, 2012, by yngindpt.