IS GINGRICH THE SMARTEST...?

It seemed that the rest of the candidates left in the Republican Party nomination race for the 2012 presidential election have been learning about their rival Newt Gingrich along the way, and so, they handled him differently in yesterday's debate.

As such, he had mellowed a little bit from the other debates that have placed him in the forefront in Iowa and South Carolina. He has also shortened his phrases in answering questions from his rivals; a communication skill that usually left an opponent in confusion.

He would stay at length in responding to a question from the moderator and then expand his explanation, when there was the slightest chance to interject.

In other words, he would do so in between a statement coming from whomever had the floor at that particular moment, and perplexity would set in for that person.

The altercation about English being the official language was an example of that, when Mitt Romney turned and asked him about the "ghetto" comment, as basically meaning that other languages being inferior. He had corrected Romney, and said that his statement has been taken out of context, and added that every person should learn the English language to be able to advance in life in the United States.

He had the moderator, Wolf Blitzer, agreeing with him, and then returning to Romney with the same question. Romney then came out and defended his stance on the issue more effectively and came up on top. (He might have seen the trick).

The exchange there was more lively than ever, making the debate to be one of the best.

That was, and still is, vintage Newt Gingrich. He could make one to struggle with a question, when he had sufficiently responded to it himself. His opponent would then be repeating what he Gingrich had just said; and that would make the opponent's answer a complete tautology.

Politicians come and politicians go, but Gingrich has a style of his own that no one can ever match.

He should have been president a long time ago, during the Clinton impeachment days; but nobody understood why he did not seize that moment. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives then, and his position would have expedited the opportunity for him to have stepped in before the outcome of it (impeachment).

Yesterday's debate found his rivals speaking out more than he; and even about Romney's finances, when Santorum took over and got Romney cornered; and with him finally ending up by saying "I'm not going to apologize," for doing well with his investments.

However, Paul knew him (Gingrich) pretty well, and so he has not been grappling with him all that much in all the debates. He knew that Gingrich always wanted to win; and he had won most of the time.

The others were beginning to realize that fact. Yet, it might be true that, Santorum and Paul were "re-learning" Gingrich; but why? They knew him before, and so they shouldn't have.

The simple fact that the other three, who were "re-studying" Gingrich and knowing or remembering his ways, would be able to handle him sufficiently now, was more important; and that would make the rest of the Republican race more interesting.

The people in Florida have got a tug-of-war on their hands, as who the winner of the primary should be; and they would not, under any circumstance, want to choose a loser to face off with Obama. However, as the situation stood presently, the fight was between Gingrich and Romney, and so the voters would have a real hard time in choosing.

One would say that Santorum and Paul have known Gingrich over the years, and there was no need to re-study him; and so, they have made him slip through their fingers. They should have attacked him more, right from the start, instead of raining most of their attacks on Romney.

People were compelled to ask the question; is Gingrich the smartest politician in America, not today or yesterday, but period? You be the judge.