And here is an excellent analysis written by John Podhoretz detailing why Romney is in trouble and might get thumped by Gingrich......and let it be known that Podhoretz is hardly a rock-ribbed conservative. He was for a long time a registered democrat, and his personal politics seem to be fairly centrist:
New York Post
Romney’s flatline
Behind the Gingrich surge
Last Updated: 9:55 AM, December 2, 2011
Posted: 10:32 PM, December 1, 2011
A Rasmussen poll puts Gingrich 20 points ahead of Mitt Romney nationally; if other polling supports that finding in the next few days, it will constitute a staggering reversal of fortune for both men.
Perhaps even more telling is that in two concurrent polls in the key state of Florida, Gingrich is garnering support from anywhere from 41 to 50 percent of likely Republican primary voters, with Romney in the teens.
If these numbers are halfway real, Gingrich is doing twice as well as any of the other “not-Romneys” — Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain — ever did.
{snip}......
Under normal conditions, Newt Gingrich could not be a serious candidate for the Republican nomination. But he has a secret weapon — Mitt Romney.
{snip}......
Romney did well in the debates because he couldn’t be pinned down, and knew how to escape the noose when it was dangling over him. Sitting across from Bret Baier in a Florida warehouse, he couldn’t dance around his own ideological contradictions. He was trapped, and he acted that way.
Romney is simply not the natural candidate for a conservative leaning party. Gingrich seems to have overcome those things which caused people to dislike him so much, and he seems to have mellowed with age. He is the intellectual superior of every other candidate in the race. If he can pair himself with a good chief of staff who will offset whatever office-managing skills Gingrich lacks, Newt would make a very good president. Of all the candidates, Romney included, Gingrich seems to be the most comfortable in his skin and the most natural at what he's doing. I am reminded of Ronald Reagan. I
like him, when I find the others to be not so nearly likable. Likableness is not necessarily a sign of a good manager, but it
is the sign of a good politician, and a good president knows how to play the game well—a quality which Obama, with his imperious nature and demonstrated unwillingness to engage with Congress, is totally lacking.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT