Following the South Carolina primary, the Republican contest has largely become a three-man race, although historically the candidate is essentially decided by the Florida debates. With Rick Santorum taking Iowa and Gingrich taking South Carolina, Mitt Romney aggressively bashed Gingrich in the most recent debate in an effort to stay afloat. Romney sought to highlight Gingrich as an unethical politician with a questionable history plagued by an ethics investigation in the 1990s and his involvement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Reston).
"We're not choosing a talk show host," Romney said of his opponent. "We're choosing the person who should be leader of the free world." He went one to name qualities of a leader, including integrity, sobriety, judgment, thoughtfulness, reliability, and high ethical standards (Reston).
"You're going to have to look at that as Floridians and decide which of the people running for president on our side of the aisle includes the qualities of leadership," he continued (Reston). .
Romney highlighted his leadership abilities, pointing out his success with the 2002 Olympics and his reign as governor of Massachusetts. He then turned on Gingrich and questioned his ability to lead a nation after his questionable reign as House Speaker (Reston).
"At the end of four years as Speaker of the House, it was proven that he was a failed leader. He had to resign in disgrace. I don't know whether you knew that .