Restore Our Future, the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney spending about $9 million million in Florida to bolster him, is expanding its buys to Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona, according to the GOP ad tracking firm Smart Media Delta.

They are the first PAC on air in those states. The Romney and Paul campaigns are also on air there.

Another Super PAC is on the scene in Florida -- "Super PAC USA," also known as "Super PAC for America." The word is the ad the group is running is anti-Romney. Super PAC USA has been linked to Dick Morris.

The PAC's website is sparse; it has just a photo of Ronald Reagan. It has booked a $218,000 buy on Fox News.

The site is registered to Nancy Watkins, a CPA from Tampa, who's become something of a clearinghouse for Super PACs. She apparently has 32 registered in her name, including "Ending Spending." She also was doing work with former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, according to a Florida blog.

She describes herself this way on her Twitter account: "Nancy Watkins is highly experienced and respected in campaign finance law compliance & has served political orgs throughout the country for more than 25 years."

Updated 2:48 p.m.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich helped revive his campaign -- twice -- with strong performances in GOP presidential debates.

The self-styled intellectual of the campaign, Gingrich has relied on expressions of support from debate audiences to convey strength in the gatherings, tossing red meat to the conservative audiences with attacks on the media and his Republican rivals.

And that helps explain why Gingrich, whose performance at a Monday night debate in Florida seemed subdued compared to recent appearances, is now threatening to skip any debate in which the audience is barred from participating.

"I wish, in retrospect, I protested when Brian Williams took them out of it, because I think it's wrong," Gingrich said this morning on Fox News, referring to the NBC Nightly News anchor, who moderated the bulk of the debate. "And I think he took them out of it because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what they've done in every debate."

Gingrich vowed to "serve notice" on future debate appearances, insisting that audiences be allowed to express support or opposition to candidates' answers. (A spokesman said Tuesday afternoon that Gingrich intended to attend all the debates, but would certainly protest rules barring audience participation.)

WATCH last night's entire NBC News/National Journal/Tampa Bay Times debate

The declaration wasn't necessarily a surprise, given the way in which Gingrich has made a conscious effort of playing to audiences at debates. Winning their applause by lobbing zingers at the media -- never unpopular among audiences -- is an easy way to improve perceptions of his performance, especially among television viewers.

He won his most raucous applause by assailing CNN moderator John King at a debate last week for asking a question of Gingrich about allegations from an ex-wife that the speaker had asked for an "open marriage" or threatened divorce.

“I am tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans," Gingrich responded, winning a standing ovation from the audience, which wasn't barred from expressions of support.

Gingrich’s indignation with the “media” was such a hit, it was a major theme of his victory speech after handily winning the South Carolina primary Saturday night, as well as his round of interviews on the networks' public affairs programs the next morning.

Americans are “just sick and tired of being told what they’re allowed to think, what they’re allowed to say,” he told NBC’s David Gregory. “The highest, the most intense passion in both debates [in South Carolina] was a head-on collision about what the news media is doing.”

But Gingrich has also relied on the news media, too, to help advance his presidential bid. Like all campaigns and candidates, Gingrich uses press accounts to press his attacks on his rivals and to bolster his own claims on the stump.

When his campaign was being nearly crippled by the broadside attacks made by a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC in Iowa, the former speaker frequently pointed to fact-checking work done by news outlets to support his contention that the charges were bogus, an acknowledgment that the media can get it right, at least when it supports Gingrich's claims.

More importantly, the evidence suggests that Gingrich’s campaign has largely been sustained by his performances in the 17 debates that have been nationally televised thus far.  In exit polls released after voting finished in South Carolina, almost 90 percent of those voters interviewed said the two debates held in South Carolina were a factor in deciding which candidate to vote for -- and 42 percent of that group said they chose Gingrich, compared to 25 percent who picked Romney.  

The debates have been so integral to Gingrich's rise that he has pledged to challenge President Obama to a series of seven, three-hour-long Lincoln-Douglas style debates. Gingrich wins laughter and applause among crowds of supporters with this line, especially when he jokes that he'll allow the president to use a teleprompter, if Obama wants to.

It's smart politics, because Gingrich has made his ability to effectively debate Obama a central selling point of his candidacy. It plays well especially in a primary environment in which Republicans are longing for someone to take a fight to the president.

There's just one problem: It won't happen.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD)is a nonprofit organization that has set the debate sites, moderators and rules for the general election in each cycle since 1988. They have already set the parameters for this fall's debates between Obama and his eventual GOP challenger. There will be three debates, held in October in Denver, Hempstead, NY, and Boca Raton, FL. The second debate will be in a town meeting format.

Gingrich probably won't be able to skip these debates if he's the nominee. But he might be reduced to protesting since, per the rules established by the CPD in every previous debate, the audience has been required to hold its applause through the duration of the meetings.

NBC’s Chuck Todd recaps last night’s Republican debate and previews President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Capitol Hill's top two Republicans sought to frame President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday evening as an essentially political exercise meant to blame Republicans for the nation's woes.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) accused Obama of giving up on Congress and trying to shift the blame for a bad economy on GOP lawmakers.

In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said it was "hard not to feel a sense of disappointment even before tonight's speech is delivered." He said campaign season has begun.

"Based on what the president's aides have been telling reporters," McConnell said, "the goal isn't to conquer the nation's problems. It's to conquer Republicans. The goal isn't to prevent gridlock but to guarantee it."

"As I see it, the message from the White House is that the President's basically given up. He got nearly everything he wanted from Congress for the first two years of his presidency. The results are in. It's not good. So he's decided spend the rest of the year trying to convince folks that the results of the economic policies he put in place are Congress's fault, not his," McConnell added.

McConnell and other Republicans today say the president can't walk into the chamber tonight and make it sound like "he just walked in the door."

Reflecting unity in the GOP messaging, House Speaker John Boehner (OH) also laid into the president for what the GOP speaker expects will be a "campaign speech."

"The president's been in total campaign mode since Labor Day," Boehner told reporters. "Since the campaign apparently wrote the speech I expect we'll hear a campaign speech."

Boehner echoed McConnell's sentiment of disappointment even before the speech has been given, citing reports that have previewed what to expect from President Obama during his address tonight.

"Based on what I've read about the State of the Union speech it sounds like we're going to hear a rerun of what we've heard over the last three years: more spending, higher taxes and more regulations," Boehner said.

TAMPA, FL -- Hours before President Obama is set to deliver his third State of the Union address, Mitt Romney delivered a "pre-buttal" speech of his own, in which the former Massachusetts governor predicted a "desperate" Obama would "tell tall tales" about an economic recovery.

"Tonight, we’ll also be treated to more divisive rhetoric from a desperate campaigner-in-chief. It’s shameful for a president to use the State of the Union to divide our nation. And someone ought to tell him:  In order to put the economy back to work everyone needs to be working," Romney said. "Here in Florida you know better. You know this president has run out of time. This president has run out of ideas. This president has run out of excuses. In 2012 we've got to make sure that he is run out of the office of the White House."

Romney's address, delivered from a massive, empty factory floor, was designed to be a clear, "definitional" speech upon which he could base his Florida campaign, a senior adviser said afterwards. That's in contrast to the campaign's efforts in South Carolina, which consisted primarily of a series of rallies and lacked a single clear message.

With last night's battle with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich behind him, Romney returned to his central message: President Obama must be replaced. Romney spent the first half of his speech describing what he saw as the president's many failures, and characterizing tonight's address as nothing but a campaign speech.

"Instead of solving the housing crisis and getting Americans back to work, President Obama has been building a European-style welfare state. He has pushed for a second stimulus and deep cuts to our national defense," Romney said, standing beneath a banner that read, "Obama isn't working."

"He’s asking the American people for another trillion dollars – and another term in office. He keeps telling people, 'We can’t wait.' To which I say, 'Yes, we can,'" Romney said.

In the latter half of Romney's speech, he offered what he said would he his own State of the Union address, in which he said he would have the "courage to tell the American people how it is" and not offer blame. He provided no new policy prescriptions, but instead ticked off a series of his stump speech talking points, including strengthening national defense, and cutting taxes for the middle class.

The speech marked a pivot point from Romney's engagement last night with GOP rivals, including his release this morning of his most recent tax returns. (Those records had been demanded by Gingrich.)

"As far as we're concerned we put [the tax return issue] to bed," the senior adviser said.

Romney was itching for fight, but Gingrich didn’t let the attacks get under his skin … Restore Our Future makes a massive buy … Gingrich gets a helping hand … Romney struggled talking about conservatism … Romney, Gingrich moderated their tone on immigration … Romney made more than $40 million the last two years, or $57,000 a day, and paid a 13.9% tax rate … Obama to focus on economic fairness in State of the Union.

*** Trading places – Romney comes out swinging…: Illustrating just how important Florida is to Mitt Romney’s candidacy, the one-time clear front-runner came out of the gate jabbing at rival New Gingrich at last night’s debate. It was the most aggressive he’s been this cycle. In just the first five minutes, Romney dumped nearly the entire oppo file (or their press shop’s “greatest” Newt hits over the last month), charging (twice) that Gingrich had “resigned in disgrace” as Speaker of the House and brought up Gingrich sitting on a “sofa with Nancy Pelosi.” Later, he hit his rival on Freddie Mac, accusing him of being a lobbyist again and for his stewardship of the party in the 1990s. Romney was clearly hoping to do two things: 1) Show Republicans, who have been upset that he lacks fire, that he actually has the juice, and 2) He hoped to draw out the “nasty” Newt, get under his skin.

*** …But Gingrich didn’t want the fight: It was almost a sedated Gingrich. He tried to let the attacks roll off, saying he didn’t want to chase Romney’s “misinformation.” “I don’t want to spend my time talking about Mitt,” he said later. It’s fascinating to contrast Gingrich’s approach last night with his victory speech in South Carolina, which was full of vinegar and even some venom. Gingrich clearly decided it was time to attempt to look presidential. As the New York Times wrote, “The new landscape of the Republican campaign came into sharp view, with Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich often seeming as though they had traded personalities for the evening.” Post-debate, it’s pretty clear the Gingrich folks are not happy with the candidate’s performance: they are complaining about the lack of audience participation. Perhaps Team Newt believes he needs to feed off a crowd and maybe he needed it even more last night because he did look a tad tired when the debate began. By the way, Rick Santorum, who didn’t get into the scrum with Newt and Romney early in the debate didn’t seem to find his sea legs until the end of the night when he built the case that neither is a true conservative. “When push came to shove, they got pushed,” Santorum said, adding, “They rejected conservatism when it was hard to stand.” And Ron Paul seems simply satisfied that he’s going to acquire enough delegates, so he can continue to push his message; it’s unclear whether he truly envisions himself as a potential nominee.

*** Gingrich gets a helping hand: Gingrich’s strategy last night carries some risk. Though he appears to be gaining in Florida, Gingrich still doesn’t have the money or infrastructure Romney has in the state. And it’s the debate moments in South Carolina that generated the “earned” media to keep his surge going. There was no South Carolina-like moment last night for him. That said, Gingrich got a helping hand once again from the casino magnate family, the Adelsons. Sheldon Adelson earlier donated $5 million to the pro-Gingrich Super Pac Winning Our Future. NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports that his wife Miriam has now cut another $5 million check. The money is desperately needed by Gingrich right now to stay even REMOTELY competitive in Florida. But the Adelson money comes with risk if it begins to sink in with some voters that this campaign is essentially being financed by one guy. Questions will start to be raised: Who is Sheldon Adelson, why does he do this, what does he want, and what would he want from a President Gingrich?

Here’s a check of the Florida ad spending so far, according to NBC Smart Media Delta, including a massive $4.4 million buy Restore Our Future, the Super PAC supporting Romney:

- Restore Our Future: $8.7 million
- Romney campaign: $5.7 million
- The labor union AFSCME: $931,000
- Winning Our Future PAC: $355,000
- Newt Gingrich: $145,000

*** Tough moments for Romney on conservatism and immigration: If there is one negative moment that has more of a shelf life than the Romney campaign would like, it was his answer late in the debate about what he did to advance the conservative movement’s cause. “Well, number one, I've raised a family,” he said. “And I've -- I've -- with my wife, we've raised five wonderful sons, and we have 16 wonderful grandkids. Number two, I've worked in the private sector. The idea that somehow everything important for conservativism or for America happens in government is simply wrong.” He went on to cite work as governor of Massachusetts. But that’s not exactly the answer conservatives are looking for. That he can’t answer that question very well is one reason the base hasn’t rallied around him. He also delivered this head scratcher when asked to square his stance that he wouldn’t round up 11 million illegal immigrants, but require them to go home: “Well, the answer is self-deportation,” he said. Romney has always tried to straddle a very fine line on immigration with one foot in the primary and one in the general election. And “self-deportation” has the potential to feed into the “Romney’s always looking to have it both ways” narrative. By the way, with the debate in Florida, there was clearly a moderated TONE on immigration from Romney and Gingrich. Notice that on the DREAM Act, Gingrich said he would not veto it, but try to change it slightly. Romney jumped in and tried to co-opt the stance. “[T]hat's the same position that I have,” Romney interjected. Except that Romney did use the “V” word.

*** Romney releases his taxes: Hours after the debate (and hours before President Obama delivers the State of the Union), he released advance copies of his taxes to the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. They show he made $42.6 million in the past two years ($21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million in 2011) “virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments,” the Washington Post writes. (Here they are.) In other words, he made more than $40 million not because of a job, but while he was preparing his run for president. The Romneys paid a 13.9% tax rate, $6.2 million in taxes, and they made $7 million in charitable contributions, “including at least $4.1 million” to the Mormon church. By the way, according to our math, Romney made $57,000 a day for the past two years. That’s higher than the median household income in this country of $50,221.

*** Timing is everything: Could team Obama have picked a better time for THEM politically for Romney to release his taxes -- than right before the president talks about the unfairness of the tax code during the State of the Union? For many people, the picture will be fresh in their minds of what Romney made -- and the rate he paid -- as the president makes these points of economic fairness. There will be plenty, by the way, in Romney’s taxes for opponents to pick over (not many people have every had a Swiss bank account, for example.) But most of all, Romney’s taxes paint a picture of something a lot of people may not be able to connect with; earning millions without working full-time. By the way, given Romney’s predicament in Florida right, there will be lot of curious and nervous Republicans watching Mitch Daniels’ Republican response to see if he shows them something that might make them pine for him yet again. It’s a tough spot to be in for ANY politician: perhaps the most thankless high-profile speaking slot in American politics.

*** What’s fair is fair: The other big news that will dominate tonight is the president’s State of the Union address. He’s expected to draw on a lot of themes from his speech in Osawatomie, KS, speech, which focused on economic fairness. In a preview of his speech, per NBC’s Kristen Welker, he said, “I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, when everyone plays by the same rules.” Though the speech could have a short shelf life, this is what the election is going to be about – fairness, inequality, the middle class -- and that message gets kicked off tonight. Obama senior adviser David Plouffe was on TODAY and noted that the president will focus on, “How do we build an economy that it built to last” He talked about “American manufacturing” and “American energy” and “a renewal of American values.” He acknowledged, “The economy is far too weak; the hole is far too deep. … We want an economy based on everyone paying their fair share … and everyone getting a fair shake.” He also said the president will lay out specifics Buffett Rule, noting as it relates to Romney’s taxes that the “tax code that’s far top complex” and reminding of the unfairness of people making lots of money and paying a lower tax rate than those making less. By the way, notice that Plouffe said there are 47 more GOP primaries and caucuses. Someone’s paying pretty close attention to the GOP primary fight. 

*** On the trail and Paul to skip out on Florida, focus on caucuses: The Romney campaign began a conference call on the tax returns at 8:30 am ET, then another on “Gingrich’s Failed Leadership” at 9:20 am ET. Romney delivers what his campaign is calling a pre-buttal to the State of the Union from Tampa at 10:30 am ET. He holds a housing event at 3:20 pm ET. Gingrich holds four events, including rallies and a bus tour stop. Santorum makes three stops. NBC’s Anthony Terrell reports that Paul will essentially skip out on Florida, where it’s winner-take-all, after Thursday’s debate and focus on winning delegates out of the next several caucus states. He’ll campaign in Maine Friday and Saturday. On Tuesday, when Floridians head to the polls, Paul will fly west, campaigning in Colorado.  From Feb. 1-4, he’ll campaign in Nevada, and then head to Minnesota, where he will remain until Feb. 7, when they go to the polls.

Countdown to Florida primary: 7 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 11 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 42 days
Countdown to Election Day: 287 days

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*** Tuesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up: Fmr. Sen. George Lemieux (R-FL), who’s running again this year, on last night’s Florida fight and the final week before the Sunshine State’s primary… Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) on the debate over economic fairness and what to expect in tonight’s State of the Union… White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer with more on tonight’s speech… one of us (!!!) with a look back at State of the Union speeches… more 2012 news with TheGrio.com/msnbc’s Perry Bacon, The Daily Beast/Newsweek’s Lois Romano and Democratic strategist Steve McMahon. 

*** Tuesday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports’ line up: Mitchell anchors live from Capitol Hill today. On the show: Gene Sperling- Director of the National Economic Council and Asst. to the President for Economic Policy, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) -Minority Whip, VA Gov. Bob McDonnell - Romney supporter, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza, Tony Perkins, President-Family Research Council, Politico's Manu Raju, Chris Cillizza.

*** Tuesday’s Jansing & Company: Chris welcomes: Washington Post’s Dana Milbank; Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) & Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY); iVillage’s Kelly Wallace, Slate Magazine’s Dave Weigel; Rep. John Mica (R-FL).

*** Tuesday’s “Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts talks with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), RNC Chair Reince Priebus, Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) & Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Fmr. Labor Secy. Robert Reich, Fmr. Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL), Fmr. Rep. Bob McEwen (R-OH), and Melissa Harris Perry.

*** Tuesday’s News Nation: Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Nancy DeParle – Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, Conservative radio talk show host Steve Deace, Salon.com’s Justin Elliott.

The Tampa Bay Times: "Mitt Romney has enhanced his image as a front-runner by staying above the fray during a run of Republican debates, but Monday he sharply abandoned that approach to unleash a withering attack on the rival who threatens his claim to the nomination. The prospect of being flattened by the Newt Gingrich steamroller wonderfully concentrated Mitt Romney’s mind during last night’s NBC debate in Florida. Romney, suddenly in second place and falling fast after Gingrich slaughtered him in South Carolina, sent a simple and unambiguous message to GOP voters: This guy is trouble.”

Politico: “In only the first few days of the Florida campaign, every aspect of the GOP contest has blown up on a grand scale: the price of competing, the nastiness of the attacks and the cost of a potential defeat for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.”

In the most uncomfortable confrontation yet in these debates, in the first half-hour, Romney and Gingrich cut out the middleman — NBC’s Brian Williams — and went at each other. The problem for Gingrich and his undeniable momentum was that the issue was Gingrich,” The New York Post writes.

GINGRICH: Tim Alberta in National Journal, per Political Wire: "Like a stand-up comedian whose routine suffers without echoes of laughter egging him on, Newt Gingrich appeared to be a candidate without cadence Monday night when he found himself searching hopelessly for the secret weapons that have proven crucial to his season of strong debate performances: moderators to scold and audience members to energize."

ROMNEY: “Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments,” the Washington Post reports. “None came from wages, the primary source of income for most Americans. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments. The couple gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney’s family has for generations been among the Mormon Church’s most prominent members.” The Post also reports that his effective tax rate was 13.9%.

“Mitt Romney’s campaign released details of his federal tax returns on Tuesday morning, showing that he will most likely pay $6.2 million in taxes on $45 million in income over the two tax years of 2010 and 2011,” the New York Times reports, adding, “The disclosure — reported early Tuesday by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and financial wire services — showed a vast array of investments from a recently closed Swiss Bank account to holdings in Bermuda to the Cayman Islands, all underscoring the breadth and depth of his wealth that has become central in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.”

Reuters: “Bowing to increasing political pressure to provide more detail about his vast wealth, (Mitt Romney) the former private equity executive released tax returns indicating he and his wife, Ann, paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010. They expect to pay a 15.4 percent rate when they file their returns for 2011. Romney's tax rate is below that of most wage-earning Americans because most of his income, as outlined in more than 500 pages of tax documents, flows from capital gains on investments.”

"His Republican opponents got their chance last night. Now it is President Obama’s turn. Tonight’s State of the Union address gives the president a chance to steal the spotlight from the fractious Republicans and turn it toward his rallying call for economic and tax fairness. In doing so, Obama will seek to project his vision for government’s role in incubating a new prosperity for future generations,” the Boston Globe writes.

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TAMPA, FL – Fresh off his decisive win in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich took the stage in the Sunshine State this afternoon insisting that GOP rival Mitt Romney is getting “desperate.”

“If you’ve been campaigning for six years, and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate, and when you get desperate you say almost anything,” Gingrich told the roughly 175 people in attendance outside The River Church. “I think at tonight’s debate he may stretch the barrier of almost anything.”

Romney began ramping up his attacks on the former House Speaker after Gingrich received 40 percent of the vote in South Carolina to Romney's 28 percent.

Walking out to Toby Keith’s “How Do You Like Me Now?” – a new addition to the usual event song list – Gingrich told the crowd that Romney’s attacks have moved beyond the “pious baloney” they were in other states.

“It used to be pious baloney; now it’s just desperate baloney,” he said, vowing to memorize lines from Reagan to help him at the debate tonight including “there you go again.”

Not everyone in the crowd was in favor of the speaker, though.

Only several minutes into his speech Gingrich was interrupted by a member of the audience, Diana Barrios, who challenged him to defend his claim that he's a "Reagan Conservative."

Barrios, along with her son, was ushered off the property by two church security guards.  She told a band of reporters who followed her out that she's a supporter of President Obama's, and accused Gingrich of promoting "right-wing extremism."

“It’s a free country, Mitt’s allowed to have 2 people out of this number,” Gingrich said to cheers after the interruption and noted that it’d be great if that reflected how the Florida primary on Jan. 31st will turn out.

“Winning next Tuesday will be an enormous jump towards the nomination,” he said.

LADY LAKE, Fla. --  What started as a strong and well attended Rick Santorum town hall got sidetracked this afternoon as the presidential hopeful faced a questioner who called President Obama an "avowed Muslim" and protesters disrupted the event.

"He is an avowed Muslim and my question is why isn't something being done to get him out of our government. He has no legal right to be calling himself president," a woman asked, referring to President Obama.

Standing in front of a crowd of more than 250 mostly senior citizens, Santorum did not address the incorrect claim about the president's religion.

"Well yeah," said Santorum. "I'm doing my best to get him out of the government right now and she is right that he uniformly ignores the Constitution."

After the event, the former Pennsylvania senator told reporters it is not his job to correct every false claim that comes up during
questions.  “Why do you guys ask these ‘Gotcha’ questions like it’s my job to go out and correct everybody who says something I don’t agree with?" Santorum responded to media inquiring about the exchange.

"There are lots of people who get up and say stuff in a town hall meeting and say things that I don’t agree with, but I don’t think it’s my obligation, nor should it be your feeling that it’s my obligation to correct somebody who says something that I don’t agree with.”

But that was not the only hiccup the candidate faced during his town hall here this afternoon.  As the event was coming to a close, a
protester charged toward Santorum and attempted to throw a fist full of glitter at Santorum, but was stopped by security beforehand.

Attempts to "glitter bomb" Santorum have become a frequent occurance on the campaign trail as a way to protest his views on homosexuality.

How much time Santorum will spend in the Sunshine State is still in flux.  Today, he indicated that how things go on the trail here over the next several days will dictate how hard he makes a push in the state.

But, regardless of how much he campaigns in Florida, Santorum has been clear that his candidacy will not end after the Jan. 31 primary.

"We're going to be in this race for a long time," he said.  "We're planning already for Super Tuesday states and investing resources in states there. So this is going to be a long campaign, and we hope to do well here, but we understand this is a very, very expensive state."

While the Santorum campaign has enjoyed a fundraising boost since his Iowa caucus victory, his war chest still pales in comparison with that of rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

Today, he tried to qualm fears that his candidacy might not have the ability to compete in the long term.

"Gov. Romney says 'I can win because I have the most money.'  Does anyone doubt whoever the Republican nominee is will have all the money they need to run against Barack Obama? They will," Santorum said.

"There's absolutely no doubt that whoever the Republican nominee is will be backed fully, completely, and in our case enthusiastically by the base of the Republican party, the entire base."

Newt Gingrich's former consulting company will release his contracts with Freddie Mac this evening before the NBC debate, a spokeswoman confirmed. Gingrich was reportedly paid $1.6 million under the contracts and Romney had made disclosure of the contracts a major issue in the last day.

The spokeswoman for the Center for Health Transformation said she documents will be released by 7 p.m.

Mitt Romney may have a difficult time righting the trajectory of his campaign in Florida following a tough primary defeat in South Carolina, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said Monday.

"Right now, I think Romney is going to struggle in Florida.  He may have the resource advantage going into this  in terms of just the funding  for an expensive state to run in," Smith said during an appearance on Andrea Mitchell Reports. "[But] you know Florida is funny, you go south to go north and you go north to go south. And in my neck of the woods, which is north Florida, I think people don’t relate very well to Romney, there’s a distance."

Although a protracted Republican primary race can arguably help the Democrats in the general election, Smith pointed to the former Massachusetts gvernor’s stance on immigration as a factor in his performance in the southern part of the state. South Florida has a large number of immigrants from the Caribbean and Cuba.

Specifically pointing out Romney’s opposition to the DREAM Act, a proposal that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Smith said Romney will find that  “Florida is very different on the issue of immigration than some of the states he’s been campaigning in” and indicated that reaction to his stance on the issue may not be well received.

On President Obama’s chances in Florida during the general election, the state’s Democratic Party chairman was predictably more optimistic saying he’s never seen a more energized democratic base.

Despite an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, and a high number of housing foreclosures in the state, Smith said the economy is going in the right direction and the Florida electorate knows that.

“It’s going to be a slow recovery but people remember how we got here and where we were when we took office,” said Smith. “I look for him to do well in Florida.”

House Republicans are pre-emptively hitting President Obama and Senate Democrats ahead of Tuesday's State of the Union address by highlighting the fact that Democrats won't have sumbitted their own budget for consideration by 1,000 days.

The House GOP released a video that "previews" the speech, while calling out Democrats for the ignominious milestone, which will coincidentally land on the day Obama delivers his address.

The video, titled "Coming Soon: 1000 Days Without a Budget", is made to look like a movie preview, and features photos of Obama looking tired and speaking with Senate Democrats while negative economic data flashes on the screen and ominous action-movie-style music plays in the background.

The preview makes a point to specifically call out Senate Democrats as a whole, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) specifically, and refers to the vice president as "Sheriff Joe Biden", a reference to a 2009 speech where Obama referred to him as "The Sheriff": "If you're misusing taxpayer money, you'll have to answer to him," he said in the speech to Department of Transportation employees.

And while the video claims to be previewing Obama's speech tomorrow to a joint session of Congress, it also gives an early look into how Republicans plan to attack Democrats and the President going into a contentious election year.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters on Monday that he hopes to hear Obama admit that his policies, in regards to the economy, aren't working. "I certainly would like to hear from him that there's a recognition the policies in place have made this economy more lackluster," Cantor said.

Cantor says the GOP majority in the House will focus on oversight this year, calling hearings to address examples of when "the administration has failed to provide the leadership that I think most people expect."  Cantor mentioned Solyndra as a prime example of the administration's political miscues that they expect to go after in the coming year, but would not elaborate on any additional examples of what they may decide to investigate.

Republicans have warned that they plan to use the 2012 election as "a referendum on the President's policies regarding the economy," as Speaker Boehner told reporters at the House GOP Conference Retreat in Baltimore last week.  Boehner said he expects "every member in every committee" to look into Obama's policies so that they "understand the devastating impact of these policies on our economy."

But the lack of a Democratic budget from the Senate appears to be a major point that Republicans plan to drill down in the coming weeks, especially now that the White House has announced they are delaying their own budget by a week.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), co-authored a post on the National Review’s website today saying they are "disappointed" that Democrats have not offered a budget plan in the past 1,000 days.

"If the president wishes to begin a genuine dialogue with the American people in tomorrow's State of the Union address, then he must hold his own party accountable for its dogged refusal to produce a plan to prevent this crisis and lift this cloud of uncertainty from the economy," the two lawmakers wrote.

A race for the GOP presidential nomination that had seemed headed toward a quick conclusion just a week ago now seems more headed toward a protracted and expensive competition, thanks to Newt Gingrich's victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

Republicans in the Palmetto State dispatched the possibility of any tidy resolution to the primary campaign by handlng the former House speaker a 12-point victory over Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who had hoped to wrap up the nomination.

The candidates are now focused on Florida, which hosts a primary closed to Republican voters only on Jan. 31; the winner is awarded all of the Sunshine State’s delegates, but will also assume a degree of momentum from winning such a large contest in an important swing state.

"That’s the case you have to make in this contest – that you’re strong enough to compete in all of the states," said Kevin Madden, an adviser to the Romney campaign.

The contest in Florida is already shaping up to be an especially pointed one between Romney and Gingrich, the two of whom are already taking shots at each other at campaign events. They’ll confront each other directly at Monday evening’s NBC News/National Journal debate.

“What we know is that 75 percent of the party has consistently not wanted Mitt Romney,” said Rick Tyler, a former spokesman for Gingrich who now helps run a super PAC aiding the former speaker.  “Here in Florida, because Rick Santorum has essentially collapsed and Ron Paul is not competing, it's essentially a two-way contest. All I need to do is align Newt Gingrich with that 75 percent and Mitt Romney with Charlie Crist.”

The Romney campaign had treated Florida as a firewall even before losing the South Carolina primary. Almost 200,000 early and absentee ballots, which are expected to favor Romney, have been cast. And the state favors organization and money, the latter of which the Romney campaign has, as evidenced by a $2.3 million broadcast buy made this week.

The dynamics of the Florida campaign could allow Gingrich, though, to rally dissatisfied conservatives behind his candidacy and ride momentum from South Carolina – where his candidacy was resurrected for the second time this cycle – to compete and even win in Florida.

Tyler said that he expects Gingrich to win Florida, but asserted victory there wasn’t critical to the ex-speaker’s hopes of winning the nomination.

That’s because of the way this year’s primary calendar is set up.

Beyond Florida, the campaign also enters relatively dormant phase with several smaller caucuses and primaries through early March, mostly in states advantageous to Romney.

Nevada, a state where Romney has previously campaigned and which has a sizable Mormon population, hosts its caucus on Feb. 4, and Colorado and Minnesota host subsequent caucuses on Feb. 7.

Those are the only contests until the end of the month, when Arizona and Michigan host primaries on Feb. 28. Romney has an advantage in Michigan, where he was raised and where his father served as governor. Washington state also hosts a March 3 caucus.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul is also concentrating his efforts on winning some of these caucuses, where his enthusiastic supporters typically play an outsized role in similar contests.

That means Gingrich’s next big opportunity could come on March 6, this year’s “Super Tuesday,” when 10 states hold their contests – putting a number of delegates in play. It’s the results from those contests which could provide the best glimpse of how long the primary campaign will last, and whether Romney or Gingrich can finally score a decisive knockout blow.

“I think it's very important,” Tyler said of March 6. “But I think if Newt performs well in Florida, he'll do very well on Super Tuesday.”

The 10 contests on that day could favor Gingrich, since a number of them are in southern or more conservative states whose voters might be more inclined to support him. Gingrich won't be on the ballot in one of the states, Virginia, where he failed to qualify.

For its part, the Romney campaign has always stressed the primacy of winning delegates, and has prepared for the possibility of a drawn-out primary against a conservative challenger.

“The campaign was built for a very competitive primary contest,” Madden said. “I think we’re prepared to go all the way.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 18: U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) speaks during a news conference about the 25th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) October 18, 2011 in Washington, DC.

Updated 1:29 p.m.

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk underwent successful surgery on Monday after having suffered a stroke on Saturday night, his office announced Monday.

Kirk underwent surgery to remove a 4 inch by 8 inch piece of his skull to relieve swelling in the brain, Dr. Richard Fessler of Northwestern Memorial Hospital told reporters late Monday morning in Chicago.

The 52-year-old senator suffered his stroke on the right side of his brain, an area that threatens Kirk's physical function on the left side of his body. Fessler said that Kirk's future use of his left arm will be "very difficult," and that the stroke could mean difficulty in his left leg, and in the left side of his face.

Kirk checked himself into the hospital on Saturday. according to a statement released by his office this morning. He had been experiencing dizziness and headaches, and subsequent tests revealed that he had suffered a stroke.

"Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke. The surgery was successful," Kirk's office said. "Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead."

Kirk's doctor suggested that there was little he could have done to have prevented the stroke. He will remain in the intensive care unit for the indefinite future, though Fessler said he was optimistic that Kirk had retained mental function, given the fact that he is responding "briskly" to commands.

Kirk, a Republican, was elected to the Senate in 2010, filling the seat once held by President Obama. He had served five previous terms in the House of Representatives, and is a U.S. Navy reservist.

Fessler said it was "way too soon to try and predict" when Kirk might be able to return to work.

The Romney campaign is in all-out attack mode on Monday, pulling no punches against Newt Gingrich since the former House speaker won last Saturday's South Carolina primary.

The Romney campaign will launch a major wave of television advertisements against Gingrich in Florida, engaging in the kind of negative "contrast" ads that had previously been left to a super PAC spending on the former Massachusetts governor's behalf.

Romney himself has dropped any pretense of niceness against Gingrich, too. Romney and his surrogates are going aggressively after the ethics charge that plagued Gingrich in office, and are demanding he release records of his work for troubled mortgage lender Freddie Mac since leaving office.

"I think as you look at the speaker’s record over time, it’s been highly erratic," Romney said of Gingrich after an event in Tampa this morning. "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."

A senior campaign adviser suggested that the attacks won't be limited to the campaign trail and airwaves; Romney will make the criticism in person at tonight's NBC News-National Journal debate, and likely at a subsequent debate this week on Thursday night.

The attacks are illustrative of the way Gingrich has enjoyed a revival -- again -- over the past week of the campaign, culminating in his Palmetto State victory. The Romney campaign, which had run a frontrunner-like campaign that stuck mostly to attacks on President Obama, not Republican rivals, has pivoted quickly to stanch Gingrich's momentum.

Having already spent millions in the state, the Romney campaign placed a major, $2.3 million broadcast buy across the state of Florida from Jan. 25-31. The buy will help air the campaign's new ad, "Florida Families," which highlights Gingrich's paid work for Freddie Mac during the lead up to the collapse of the housing market, a crash that's particularly affected Florida.

The ad accompanies demands by Romney that Gingrich release records associated with that contract with Freddie Mac, which the former speaker has repeatedly denied involved any lobbying work.

(Gingrich, on "Good Morning America" earlier Monday, said he's "Very comfortable" with releasing those records, but said his staff is working through a series of confidentiality agreements in order to make their release possible.)

Perhaps the harshest attacks, though, came from an erstwhile presidential candidate, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Pawlenty, a Romney surrogate, suggested that nominating Gingrich would essentially mean a second term for President Obama. It's a direct strike at the electability argument Gingrich has begun to craft for himself -- an issue on which Romney typically excels, but on which Gingrich beat him in South Carolina, according to exit poll data.

"The possibility of Newt Gingrich being our nominee is essentially just handing the election over to Barack Obama, if it gets to that," he said on a conference call.

High stakes at tonight’s NBC/National Journal/Tampa Bay Times debate, especially for Romney and Gingrich… Debate airs beginning at 9:00 pm ET on NBC’s “Rock Center,” and it’s moderated by NBC’s Brian Williams… Romney comes out swinging against Gingrich… But Romney has more than a Newt problem; he has a Mitt problem -- and it now includes electability… Team Obama’s role in stoking the negative narratives about Romney… And Giffords to resign from Congress.

*** High stakes: When the remaining four presidential candidates gather for the 18^th debate of the cycle tonight in Tampa, FL, the stakes couldn’t be any higher, especially for Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. For Romney -- fresh off his double-digit defeat in South Carolina and after uneven performances in his last two debates -- tonight’s debate is a crucial moment for his campaign. Either he rises to the occasion (by providing sharper answers, by disqualifying Gingrich, and by proving to GOP voters the confidence he can be their guy in November), or he struggles again, giving Gingrich a path to overtake him in Florida. For Gingrich, tonight’s debate will prove if he can withstand the attacks (because they’re coming), and if he can pull off another strong performance. And don’t lose sight of Rick Santorum (who has leveled pointed criticism at both Romney and Gingrich in past debates) or Ron Paul (who has sometimes has served as Romney’s wingman). If we learned anything from South Carolina, it’s that the debates have mattered, and tonight’s debate likely won’t be any different. By the way, this is the first debate where, based on ACTUAL results, it's clear there's no real front-runner right now.

Mitt Romney slideshow

Newt Gingrich slideshow

*** The skinny on tonight’s debate: Tonight’s NBC/National Journal/Tampa Bay Times debate airs beginning at 9:00 pm ET on NBC’s “Rock Center.” It’s moderated by NBC’s Brian Williams, and will also feature questions by National Journal’s Beth Reinhard (a former Miami Herald reporter), and the Tampa Bay Times’ veteran political reporter Adam Smith.  You can also watch the debate live on NBCPolitics.com and follow the Twitter stream of our political experts.

*** Romney comes out swinging: If yesterday was any indication, expect Romney to come after Gingrich hard. Campaigning last night in front of more than 700 voters, NBC’s Garrett Haake reported, Romney hit the former House speaker on two fronts. The first: his leadership in the 1990s. “He was a leader for four years as speaker of the House," Romney said. "And at the end of four years it was proven he was a failed leader. And he had to resign in disgrace. I don't know if you knew that.” The second: Gingrich’s past work at Freddie Mac: “He has been working as a lobbyist, he was working as a lobbyist and selling influence around Washington," Romney added. "He was working for Freddie Mac, heard of those guys?” And in an interview with NBC’s Peter Alexander, Romney made more digs at Gingrich. “The people who knew him best, where he was responsible for leading, actually rejecting him, reprimanded him and he left in shame."

*** Romney’s electability problem: So Romney has signaled that he’s loaded for bear. His problem: that strategy didn’t work for him -- especially in Florida -- four years ago. He didn't wear well in 2008 with voters when he became an attack dog at debates against McCain and Huckabee. But more importantly for Romney, he doesn’t have a Newt problem; he has a Mitt problem. Over the past several months, his message has been electability. But the last couple of debates, the evasive answers on his tax returns (even though he’s releasing his 2010 ones tomorrow), all the Bain scrutiny, and Obama’s positioning over the last six months (see tomorrow’s State of the Union address) have all poked holes into that electability argument. Bottom line: What he has projected as strength can now be viewed as a weakness. What’s more, it appears that Romney has run out of ideas. What is the quintessential Romney plan? The new idea he’s offering? So right now, Romney has a message problem, an ideas problem, and -- yes -- an electability problem. Newt is simply the latest vehicle for primary voters to express their angst about Romney. 

*** Team Obama’s role in the anti-Romney narratives: And don’t overlook the role that the Obama campaign has had in the negative narratives on Bain Capital and Romney’s wealth; in fact, Campaign Manager Jim Messina today has penned a memo furthering these narratives. Of course, Gingrich picked up on them, and they’ve become more potent in a GOP primary than even Team Obama thought they would be. What these narratives have done is put Romney on the defensive and made him look uncomfortable with his wealth. Why else do you tweet a pic of him doing laundry (with powdered Tide no less) if you aren't overly-concerned about his "every man" image. One thing about Gingrich: He knows who he is, and he's comfortable in his skin. Can the same be said right now for Romney?

*** Giffords to resign from Congress: “Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) will resign from Congress this week, she announced in a video message posted” yesterday, NBCPolitics.com’s Mike O’Brien reported. “Giffords, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head in an attack a year ago in her Arizona district, cited her continued work toward recovery as a reason for stepping down from her seat.  ‘I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week,’ she said in a video message posted to YouTube. ‘I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country.’” Giffords will attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address before submitting her resignation letter. And, before she leaves office, Giffords plans to finish the “Congress on your Corner” event where the tragic shooting occurred a year.

*** On the trail: Before tonight’s 9:00 pm ET debate in Tampa, Romney holds a roundtable on housing issues in Tampa… Santorum, in North Venice, tours a manufacturing company and later holds a town hall in Lady Lake… And Gingrich holds an event in Tampa at 2:00 pm ET.

Countdown to Florida primary: 8 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 12 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 43 days
Countdown to Election Day: 288 days

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*** Monday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up (live from Tampa): Romney adviser Kevin Madden and Gingrich pollster Kellyanne Conway on the latest exchanges between their candidates… USF Professor Susan MacManus and the Washington Post's Dan Balz with a debate preview… Former Perry and Gingrich Campaign Manager Rob Johnson on where the race goes from here… More 2012 headlines and analysis with National Journal's Major Garrett, the Los Angeles Times' Seema Mehta, and former RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the New York Times’ Charles Blow, National Journal’s Ron Fournier, DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard, the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, and former Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler.

*** Monday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts interviews MSNBC’s Ed Schultz and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) on Rep. Gabby Giffords, Richard Wolffe, Joy-Ann Reid, Doug Heye, David Goodfriend, the Washington Post’s Nia Malika Henderson, and Newsweek’s Allison Samuels. 

*** Monday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include The Nation’s Ari Melber, former SC Republican Chairman Karen Floyd, Brown University’s Wendy Schiller, and MSNBC Contributor Jimmy Williams.

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up (live from Tampa): NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo, NBC’s Chuck Todd,  former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, the DNC’s Brad Woodhouse, Charlie Cook , Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, Bill McCollum, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Rep. Elijah Cummings, and the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins about the last interview Joe Paterno did before his death.

“Facing a restive Republican Party and a resurgent Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney shifted course on Sunday and agreed to release his tax returns this week, as the two candidates and their allies buckled in for a combative and unpredictable new phase of the presidential nominating campaign,” the New York Times writes.

The Tampa Bay Times: “Three states. Three winners. A divided delegate count. If there is one clarity in the unpredictable, captivating turns of the Republican presidential race, it is this: Anything can happen and Florida, which is next to vote, is wide open.”

The Miami Herald’s headline: “Organized Mitt, energized Newt face Florida brawl.”

PolitiFact previews the debate and the candidates’ most used (and stretched) talking points.

GINGRICH: “A beaming Newt Gingrich yesterday boasted that his South Carolina primary win proves he’s the best Republican to go ‘toe to toe’ with President Obama — as a humbled Mitt Romney finally agreed to release his tax returns,” the New York Post reports.

House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn said Gingrich won South Carolina with “familiar rhetoric.” He likened Gingrich’s rhetoric on food stamps to Reagan saying “welfare queens.” “People know what that means,” Clyburn said. “Still, Clyburn was careful not to say that he thinks Gingrich is racist, although he seemed to say some voters are,” Roll Call writes. “I never used that word, and I never call anybody anything that resembles that,” Clyburn said. “I’m saying that he’s appealing to an element in his party that will see President Obama as different from all other presidents that we’ve had. There’s only one thing that makes him different.”

ROMNEY: “Under pressure from rivals and a few allies alike, Mitt Romney said today that he will release his tax returns on Tuesday and not wait until April, as he seeks to bury swirling questions about his finances that have shadowed his campaign for the last week,” the Boston Globe notes. “We made a mistake holding off as long as we did,” Romney said. “It was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues in the campaign.”

More: “Tuesday will be the day after the first Florida debate, so it gives Romney the advantage of saying he will release them, without having to answer questions at the debate about what they contain.”

“Reeling from his stunning loss in South Carolina, Mitt Romney says he will release his 2010 tax returns Tuesday,” the New York Daily News reports.

He also lashed out at Gingrich: “He’s been working for Freddie Mac, remember those guys?” Romney said Sunday night, per the Wall Street Journal. “What was he doing at Freddie Mac? Because Freddie Mac figures in very prominently to the fact that people in Florida have seen home values go down. It’s time to turn them around.”

He went on, calling Gingrich a “failed leader”: “At the end of four years, it was proven that he was a failed leader. He had to resign in disgrace.”

Of Chris Christie’s appearance on Meet the Press, the New York Post has this headline: “Christie in new veep tease.”

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown on Romney’s wealth, per Roll Call: “Listen, he’s in a category, a lot of those folks are in categories that we don’t really understand,” Brown said on the “Jim and Margery” talk-radio show this morning. “And certainly he has to release his [tax] returns. I understand he’s going to do that like everybody else when they become ready and available in April. I don’t know anything [about] his finances. I really — it’s kind of a different world for me.”

 By Garrett Haake, NBC News 

ORMOND BEACH,  Fla. -- In his first campaign appearance in this pivotal primary state since his drubbing at the hands of Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, Mitt Romney unveiled a new strategy Sunday night to stop the former speaker's momentum: Hit Gingrich. Hard. 

Speaking before a crowd of more than 700 supporters at a rally here, Romney deviated from his standard remarks early, looking to define the candidate who mauled him in South Carolina in a different light by bringing up the tumultuous end of Gingrich's tenure as speaker of the House of Representatives.

"So I've had the experience of leadership. Now Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader.  He was a leader for four years as speaker of the House," Romney said, as boos rang out at the mention of Gingrich's name. "And at the end of four years it was proven he was a failed leader. And he had to resign in disgrace. I don't know if you knew that. He actually resigned after four years in disgrace. He was investigated under an ethics panel and had to make a payment associated with that and then his fellow Republicans, 88 percent of Republicans, voted to reprimand Speaker Gingrich. He has not had a record of successful leadership." 

Direct assaults like this from Romney on the stump are rare enough to be startling to those who hear him speak daily, but Romney didn't stop there, also tying Gingrich to the housing crisis in a state where the collapse in home values has been acutely felt. 

"Over the last, what 15 years, since he left the House ... he talks about great bold movements and ideas, well, what’s he been doing for 15 years? He has been working as a lobbyist, he was working as a lobbyist and selling influence around Washington," Romney said. "He was working for Freddie Mac, heard of those guys? He says that he’s just been a historian, I would like him to release his records; what was his work product? What was he doing at Freddie Mac? Because Freddie Mac figures prominently into the fact that people in Florida have seen home values go down; it’s time to turn that around." 

In the hours since Romney's double-digit loss in South Carolina, senior advisers to the campaign have said that the effort to contrast Gingrich and Romney more pointedly will continue in earnest all across Florida in the coming days, including on the debate stage Monday night.

On Monday, Romney surrogates Tim Pawlenty and the Speaker Designate of the Florida House, Will Weatherford, will hold a conference call with reporters cheekily titled "Definitely Not a Lobbyist," in which they will discuss Gingrich's work for Fannie and Freddie. Also Monday morning, Romney will hold just one public campaign appearance, a roundtable to discuss housing issues. It's a safe bet that Fannie and Freddie and Gingrich's work there will come up.

 By Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Rick Santorum this afternoon became the first presidential candidate to touch down in Florida after the South Carolina primary, making the case that last night's results prove conservatives do not need to coalesce around just one Republican candidate to successfully challenge Mitt Romney. 

"The inevitability of Romney has now been whipped away," Santorum said after holding a rally here in front of nearly 200 supporters. "The idea that conservatives now have to be united to beat him -- I beat him, Gingrich beat him, the only state he won is his back yard," he said. 

Making his case today after an unimpressive third-place finish in the first-in-the-south primary, Santorum continued to play up his Iowa victory, calling himself the only candidate thus far to win on neutral turf. 

"We've had three races, one in [Mitt] Romney's backyard in the state of New Hampshire.  He owns a home in New Hampshire, he campaigned there for six years, and as I said before, he was a governor of the neighboring state.  Last night, we had a race in South Carolina.

"Right across the border from where Newt Gingrich was, and pretty much his backyard and where he staked his claim," Santorum said. 

"They were able to win in their backyard.  Well, there was one race that was in nobody's backyard, there was one race where you had to go out, and on a level playing field compete, and we won that race," he said. 

But while Gingrich heads into Florida with a full head of steam after a decisive victory in South Carolina, Santorum is facing speculation about the future of his candidacy after weak finishes in the two most recent primaries and a war chest that is dwarfed when compared to his better-funded opponents.  Gingrich's win Saturday night was a blow to Santorum's case that he is in the best position to be the Romney alternative. 

Santorum continued his sharp critiques of Gingrich, who he will be competing with to win over many of Florida's most conservative Republicans. 

"When Newt was speaker of the House, well within three years, the conservatives in the House of Representatives tried to throw him out.

"In the fourth year they did. Why? Because he wasn't governing as a conservative. He didn't live up to all of the hype," said Santorum. 

The former Pennsylvania senator repeated many of the same jabs at Gingrich that he employed during his South Carolina swing, one of which is calling Gingrich's attacks on Romney's time as CEO of Bain Capital as an attack on capitalism.  Gingrich and former presidential candidate Rick Perry received blowback from conservatives who saw those attacks on Romney's private sector background as an attack on free markets. 

But the former Massachusetts' governor's wealth has become an issue on the campaign trail, specifically his ambiguity about whether or not he would release his tax returns.  Today Romney said he would release the records, and responding this afternoon, Santorum he too would release his records this week.

After today's stop in Southern Florida, Santorum will head to the central part of the state on Monday before participating in a debate in Tampa co-sponsoroed by NBC News.