A COSTLY JOKE.

If Romney stays aloof, then he is in trouble; as Gingrich will cajole him into thinking that the whole scenario of fighting to get to be the leader of the Free World is merely a joke.

He (Gingrich) will make him feel at ease and underestimate the situation; but behind the scenes, he will be researching his rival for his weaknesses; because that is what his (Gingrich's) "modus operandi" is.

He will dig out facts about an opponent, and then unleash such vituperations to accompany them, which are designed to demoralize him or her (opponent).

That was exactly the methodology that Mitt Romney used in his debate against his rival, Newt Gingrich, in Tampa FL., yesterday, who by his sheer brutal performance in the South Carolina debate, left Romney squirming and thus making him to decide to release his tax returns.

In the polls in Florida, where the battle has moved to, Gingrich was leading Romney by eight percentage points, quoted from an Insider Advantage poll. However, the stage was now set for Romney to gain back his momentum that he had from winning the New Hampshire primary a short while ago.

He was being aggressive in saying that, Gingrich was a loser in maintaining strong leadership, which was a vital assessment under the present circumstances, of which of the two men could lead the country out of the economic quagmire that it was in.

"The speaker was given the opportunity to be the leader of our party in 1994, and at the end of four years, he had to resign in disgrace," Romney said. (Reuters, 01/24/12).

He touched on Gingrich's ethics troubles in the United States Congress, and his lobbying jobs, as a lobbyist for several health care companies. His association with "Freddie Mac", the giant government establishment that has wasted so much of the tax payers' money over so many years; and all were minuses for Gingrich.

He wanted to condemn Gingrich of being a tyrant for no good reason, but for fame and fortune; and for the big fat belly that he carried, from those contracts he reeled in at the expense of the American public; and almost calling his political career a travesty. His professional connections to high level companies proved that point too.

Before that, Romney had under pressure (by Gingrich, as said) released two years' tax returns that "...showed he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on a total of $42.5 million in income for 2010 and 2011." (Reuters, 01/24/12).

The numbers being accurate, but the tax rates in relation to his tax burden were sketchy, as both of which fell below the 15% rate that he had previously told his audience in the SC debate.

Gingrich, under pressure from Romney, also reported a source of income of $300,000 to the Gingrich Group, paid under contract by Freddie Mac; making the focus to be on the incomes of the two men, to demonstrate whether they were truthful in their public life, when it came to the question of money earned.

Yet, Romney's real aim in Tampa, was to make people see that he could just be as peevish and waspish as Gingrich; and that the news media, particularly, should take note of that, as their reports after the SC debate, have made him (Romney) to look like he has already accepted defeat from Gingrich.

That his campaign to be the person, who would square off with President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, was on the slopes.

He appeared to be saying that he was not going to concede to Gingrich, who was now considered to be the Republican Party front runner to challenge Obama, to the chagrin of many party leaders that thought Romney should be their candidate.

He must face it, that Gingrich was a shrewd operator, and he has to come out swinging to regain his popularity in Florida.

A series of debates have been scheduled for the Republican candidates, Gingrich, Romney, Santorum and Paul; one on Thursday, in which he, Romney, should do well. Or his ambition to be Obama's opponent would be over.