Tonight will see the 18th (yes, 18th) GOP debate, on NBC at 9pm ET. As always, TPM will have live coverage. Here are ten things you need to know before then.
- New poll shows Gingrich leading in Florida: A new snap poll by InsiderAdvantage shows Newt leading the field in Florida by about 9 points. Public Policy Polling will also release a survey Monday of Florida voters; over Twitter Sunday night, PPP indicated that Gingrich and Romney were neck and neck in their surveys. The Florida TPM Poll Average has Gingrich overtaking Romney with 32.5% to Romney’s 28.1%.
- Romney slides to mere 5-point lead in Gallup tracking: Mitt Romney is down to just a 5-point lead from a 23-point lead a little over a week ago in Gallup’s tracking poll. It’s not just South Carolina where Romney has run into trouble. The national TPM Poll Average has Romney leading Gingrich 29.5% to 20.7% as Romney drops and Gingrich rises.
- Romney holds roundtable on “housing issues:” At 8am, Mitt Romney will hold a roundtable on the housing crisis in Tampa, FL. Housing and foreclosures are bound to be an issue in Florida, where the foreclosure rate is high — plus, Newt Gingrich is already making hay out of Romney’s past comments on the issue: “don’t try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom.”
- Pro-Gingrich super PAC airs radio ad with Michele Bachmann’s voice: In Florida, super PAC Winning Our Future is airing a pro-Gingrich ad using a clip of Michele Bachmann praising the former speaker. A similar ad aired in South Carolina, despite Bachmann calling on them to be taken down. Bachmann has not endorsed any candidate.
- Romney campaign readies Freddie Mac attacks: The Romney campaign is hosting a conference call with reporters on Monday morning on Gingrich’s role as a “historian” for Freddie Mac. On the call will be Romney surrogates Tim Pawlenty and Speaker Designate of the Florida House of Representatives Will Weatherford. In the past, the message from Romney on this has been that it’s impossible Gingrich only served as an historian and has called on Gingrich to release more details of his consulting work.
- Romney goes on offense: Romney is sliding in the polls, but he doesn’t want to be seen as playing only defense. At a rally Sunday night, Romney went after Gingrich with some of his harshest attacks yet, saying “it was proven that he was a failed leader.” Expect him to come out swinging at Monday’s debate.
- Gingrich plans a week of big speeches: On Sunday, Newt Gingrich said he was planning to continue his momentum out of South Carolina with a series of speeches on “big solutions for a big country” — including one on space exploration.
- Gingrich brings in donations after South Carolina win: Less than 24 hours after the South Carolina primary, the Newt 2012 campaign announced in an email, the campaign had raised over $1 million. The campaign also boasts that that they have 5,000 volunteers in Florida.
- Progressive group releases new Romney-Gekko video: The group Americans United for Change has an anti-Romney campaign called Romney-Gekko. In the latest video released Monday, they spoof Corona beer commercials, hitting Romney for the fact that he likely has money tied up in offshore accounts. The ad ends with the phrase, “Believe in America. Hide Your Money in the Caribbean.”
- The candidates campaign in Florida: Each candidate has a light schedule campaigning in Florida Monday ahead of the NBC debate. Santorum, who advocates for zero corporate taxes on manufacturers, will meet with employees of PGT manufacturing. Ron Paul is largely skipping Florida but will be in Tampa for the debate.
