Live coverage of the Florida campaign as Newt Gingrich pulls 'offensive' Spanish radio ad, and Mitt Romney defends a shaky polls lead
• Live blogging now: Matt Wells
Good morning and welcome to our continuing coverage of the Republican presidential nomination race in Florida. Here's a summary from Ryan Devereaux.
Candidates in the Florida primary are preparing for the final debate before next Tuesday's vote. Tonight's debate, hosted by CNN and the Hispanic Leadership Network, is seen as crucial for Newt Gingrich, who appears to be stalling in the polls. Gingrich was forced to pull a Spanish radio ad yesterday, which critics said was offensive.
The conservative media appears to be turning on Newt Gingrich. The Drudge Report has run a banner that reads "Insider: Gingrich Repeatedly Insulted Reagan." The headline links to a Elliott Abrams story in The National Review in which the former speaker is accused of repeatedly clashing with Ronald Reagan on some of his most transformative issues. For Gingrich, a man who boasts of his best buddy relationship with the former president every chance he gets, the claim directly contradicts one of his favorite narratives.
Mitt Romney is on the Newt-offensive as well, launching a series of attack ads in Florida. Paid for by the pro-Romney super pac, Restore Our Future, one of the ads argues: "Reagan rejected Newt's ideas. On leadership and character, Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan." At an event on Tuesday, the former Massachusetts governor repeatedly referred Gingrich as an "influence peddler," a charge he first levelled at the most recent Republican debate.
Gingrich has dismissed the attacks as desperate and inaccurate, choosing instead to devote his attention towards loftier goals, namely, the moon. On Wednesday the former speaker declared that by the end of his second term the US would lay claim to the first permanent moon base, a crucial first step in making the crater-covered rock the 51st state.
In addition to his intergalactic ambitions, Gingrich has also attempted to conquer Florida's substantial Latino vote by suggesting he would bomb Cuba, the homeland of roughly a million Floridian voters. Gingrich had previously stated that he "would not tolerate four more years of a Cuban dictatorship." When asked to clarify the statement on Wednesday, Gingrich said that in the event of a "legitimate uprising" in Cuba he would support the sort of bombing campaign used to oust Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Rick Santorum has argued that Barack Obama wants young people to go to college because they are "indocrinatead" with liberal values there. Speaking at a Baptist Church in Florida Wednesday Santorum said, "It's no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go to college. The indoctrination that occurs at American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America — and it is indoctrination." It's a position Santorum has maintained for some time, he made similar remarks on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania last month.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul has opted to skip a few days of campaigning in Florida, heading instead for Maine. He is speaking at Colby College on Friday and the University of Maine's Gorham campus on Saturday.