Winners & Losers from NBC GOP Presidential Debate in Florida – 1/23/12

WATCH COMPLETE VIDEO of the Debate.

The NBC GOP Presidential Debate in Florida just concluded, and it was the worst of the 18 debates held so far in this campaign cycle.

It was clear that moderator Brian Williams had one objective – Don’t ask any question that would lead the GOP Candidates to say a word about Barack Obama. It was so obvious. If a Republican President was sitting in the White House and it was a Democratic Candidate Debate, virtually every question would consist of nerf balls served up to tee off on the Republican President. But with Obama in the White House – not a single question about his policies, his actions. Only a few times did any of the candidates ignore the question to attack President Obama, which was a mistake. I thought Newt Gingrich would repeatedly make a direct line for Obama – and he did a few times – but not like I thought he would.

Mitt Romney came out attacking. In fact, it was like he wanted to dump all of his attacks in the first five minutes of the debate. He was trying to rattle Gingrich and get under his skin. Gingrich was much more subdued. I think he let Romney go on too long without interrupting him, but he never lost his temper. In fact, he was perhaps too subdued. It appeared Gingrich came into the night determined to show he could control himself under fire. Romney attacked Gingrich’s record as Speaker of the House and his work for Freddie Mac as a consultant – which Romney would rather call “influence-peddling.” His line of attack did lead Gingrich to an opportunity to say he was proud of his work in support of Medicare Part D – which could help him among the many Senior voters who live in Florida.

Rick Santorum had a good night, clearly working hard to show himself as the anti-Romney/anti-Newt candidate. Again and again he contrasted himself to both Romney and Gingrich. He had some strong answers, but not really any single moment that would really become the focus of discussion in the days ahead. Ron Paul was very much the same, setting himself apart from the other three candidates and saying pretty much what he says in every debate.

Overall, the real story out of this debate is how awful the questions were. It made for a rather boring debate that I don’t really think will have much impact on the race in Florida. Romney may have helped himself slightly, as did Santorum. But I don’t think Gingrich will really lose ground because of what happened tonight. I think Gingrich will continue to lead in Florida in the days ahead, though it may tighten slightly. Santorum could move up some, but he is a long way back. Ron Paul does not look to be playing hard in Florida, but will probably still get around 10% of the vote.

Thursday night’s debate on CNN is set up to be even more significant. It can’t be worse than the debate tonight.

GRADES: Romney – B+, Santorum – B+, Gingrich – B, Paul – B, Debate Moderators – F.