From Jacksonville, Florida -
It seems hard to believe, but just two weeks ago, it would have seemed ridiculous to suggest that Newt Gingrich might soon be in control of the Republican race for the White House.
14 days ago, Gingrich was limping along after a fifth place finish in New Hampshire. He had been mocked for hammering Mitt Romney's business practices at Bain Capital.
All signs pointed to a Mitt Romney win in South Carolina and Florida, and it seemed that the GOP race would be over by the end of January.
But it didn't happen that way after Gingrich electrified the crowd at two debates in South Carolina and hung a 12 point shellacking on Romney in the Palmetto State.
Tonight brings the second GOP debate in Florida this week - the first featured a newly energized Romney, who went after Gingrich with gusto on Monday night in Tampa, grabbing control of the first half of that NBC debate.
Gingrich was fairly passive on Monday night; we'll see if sharpens his elbows a little more tonight.
Expect Romney to be on the attack again this evening as he has had to deviate from his standard stump speech - which only featured jabs at President Obama - as the former Massachusetts Governor has worked in attacks on Gingrich in his Florida stops.
A few of these billboards have popped up in recent days in the Jacksonville, Florida area - "No Newt is Good Newt"
Obviously, this is not just a Gingrich-Romney forum, as Rick Santorum and Ron Paul will also be in tonight's debate, but they don't seem to be figuring into the overall mix, with recent polling showing them far behind the leaders - and Santorum had dropped 8 points in the latest CNN/Time poll - most of that likely going to Gingrich.
Santorum is facing a situation like that in South Carolina - he's working hard for votes, but just not clicking with the voters like Gingrich has been.
Paul meanwhile almost seems to be taking a vacation from the campaign trail, as he has not held any events in Florida other than this week's debates.
Aides to Paul have made clear that he won't waste time and money in the Sunshine State, deciding instead to look ahead to Republican caucuses in Maine and Nevada on February 4 and in Colorado and Minnesota on February 7.
As for the Romney-Gingrich showdown, it's not too much to say that the winner in Florida could seriously become the favorite for the GOP nomination.
That makes tonight's debate at the University of North Florida all the more important.
Has Gingrich peaked? Can Romney pull Newt back?
We've seen how debates can move the voters in this year's race. This event is no different.
