>>> the republican presidential candidates have been bashing president obama 's address while they're on the road in florida today . larry kudlow interviewed mitt romney for his show tonight. romney told him that many obama's millionaire's tax is aimed directly at him. while newt gingrich told the "today" show he liked obama's rhetoric, but that was it.
>> well, it's designed to commit me if i'm the nominee, if i happen to be not the nominee, he's trying to divide america and try and say that republicans are all about the rich people . look, republicans are about fighting to help middle class americans get better jobs.
>> i find the gap between president obama 's words and his deeds to be sort of astounding. you know, he ran on bringing us together. he ran on yes, we can. yet, last night he seemed to be setting up an entire year of divisiveness.
>> meanwhile, some new poll numbers out today showed newt gingrich taking the lead in the sunshine state . the quinnipiac poll talked to voters before and after the south carolina primary , before the primary, romney was polling at about 37%, gingrich in second at 26%. but after the south carolina primary , take a look at this now. gingrich soars to 40%. but the race cos still be anyone's. 3% say they still might change their minds. want to bring in the "news nation" political panel. michael smerconish is a radio talk show host, also an msnbc contributor as well, a.b. stoddard, columnist for the hill. good afternoon to both of you.
>> hi, craig .
>> michael , let's start with you. newt gingrich wiping out a 12-point lead by mitt romney in florida . he did the same thing in south carolina . his momentum now giving him more momentum. how likely at this point that romney loses florida , and what will that mean for the race going forward?
>> i think this would be the contest that would wipe the slate clean because up till now, folks have been saying romney is still the proverbial front-runner but if he should lose florida , a far more diverse state than was south carolina in terms of those who come out and comprise the primary electorate, this would be a very significant setback. you know, craig , here's the state of the union address last night. i'm convinced mitt romney made the decision to release his tax returns yesterday, thinking he would get buried in all the coverage of the state of the union . and instead, it seems to have played directly into the hand of the president who was prepared already to talk about income disparity and here now is the romney tax return , which just furthered the narrative the white house is trying to create of him.
>> a.b., it did sound at times last night that the president was speaking as if mitt romney was going to be 9 nominee. a lot of the themes highlighted last night were the themes that would lend themselves to mitt romney .
>> they are. and michael 's right that the release of the tax returns showing that a man with no job is earning almost $60,000 a day in income off his investments from years gone by is really quite a stark example with most americans. but i think that president obama is going to run on the same themes no matter who is the nominee. he's decided he's not going to run on the situation with the economy which he says is better but he's not going to run on 8% unemployment. he's not going to run on health care reform law. he's going to run on the fact that things could be worse and the fact that there are these differences between republican economic positions which he says destroy the middle class and his proposal to defend the middle class , which he says you know, is having this make or break moment. it doesn't matter. even if newt gingrich becomes the republican nominee, you'll hear the same thing from president obama this summer and fall.
>> i want to come back to the state of the union in a moment. i want to make sure we get to what happened in florida today . newt gingrich spending part of the morning on a univision candidate forum in miami trying to court hispanic voters. a huge continuigency in the sunshine state . take a listen to what he said this morning. i want to talk about it on the other side.
>> you said that spanish is the language of the living -- of living in a ghetto.
>> it wasn't about spanish. i said about all languages. i am for english as a communionfying language. the fact is you will have a higher income, have greater job opportunities, and have a likelihood of your family having a better future if you're conversant in english.
>> michael , is there a republican candidate that has an advantage over the other with those crucial little important hispanic voters in florida ?
>> well, really interesting, craig , because you know, newt gingrich in commenting about the path towards citizenship as he saw it for the 11 million here already illegally, alienated some elements of thatting and glow base within the gop. the message he offered a few weeks agoing that drew criticism should be one that would earn him fans among hispanics in florida in particular. whether that turns out to be the case, we're about to find out.
>> one of the things that struck me going back to the state of the union last night, a.b., one of the things that struck me was it appeared as if the president was racing for the middle. it looked like and sounded like triangulation all over again. he spent time last night talking about cyberwarfare, talked about fighting mercury poisoning and spent a fair amount of time talking about personal responsibility, as well, themes that you generally don't hear a lot of left leaning politicians talk about a great deal. a.b., is the president going to be able to make that pivot successfully to go from fiery liberal populist to the centrist in the.
>> i think it's going to be tough. last night except for his discussion of economic disparity and tax fairness, i think he was largely a speech to please the base and consolidate the base. in the months to come when there is a general election that has begun in ernest and this is a republican nominee, he's going to bepy videotaping back perhaps on energy and other issues. right now he's talking about expiring the bush tax cuts for the wealthy and fighting for the middle class . republicans are not in agreement with those policies right now.
>> a.b., michael , always a pleasure. thank you both.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46135961/
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