First Reactions To Florida GOP Debate

George Wenschhof

Mitt Romney did the expected and came out whaling against rival Newt Gingrich. Newt responded in kind and the result was neither candidate came across well. Lost, in the verbal sparring between Mitt and Newt, was Texas Representative Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

The winner in the Republican presidential primary to date continues to be President Obama.

Today, a Washington Post/ ABC News poll measuring all important favorability; shows Obama at 53%, Romney at 31% and Gingrich at 29%. Even more important, Romney's negative rating among Independents, who are a critical voting block, is up 17 points since a January 7 survey. ABC News has more here.

Following are some links to first reactions to last night's debate:

Josh Marshall of TPM.com "Quick Reax" here.

Mark Halperin of Time.com grades the candidates here.

Politico.com "6 Takeaways" here.

Aaron Blake of The Washington Post adds his thoughts here.

NY Times "Tampa, Fla Debate Fact Check" here.

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