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Yet the polls tell a different story. Rasmussen is out confirming the IA poll. Romney has experienced a surge since the last debate. It's almost like the polling question is "Who do you think won the last debate?" vs. "Who do you prefer for president?"

Romney appears to leading in the Hispanic community by 15. What's that all about?

So what's having the most impact? Monday night's debate? The conservative/establishment media going after Newt?

An OK debate tonight for Newt may not do it for him. He appears to need another game changing debate. That may be too much to hope for. How many break-out debate performances can one guy be expected to muster? In many respects Newt will not have any control over a lot of what happens. It's heavily dependent on what questions the moderators asks etc.

Conventional wisdom says that Newt is great debater. But, I've noted some glaring weaknesses. Newt has had a difficult time responding to direct attacks from the other candidates. He does well with attacks from the media. He also does well defending from the moderators liberal attacks on conservatism.

Newt needs to hit a couple of home runs tonight or this may be all over except for the counting. I don't know, but to me it's looking almost like a bridge too far. When you got every conceivable force lining up against you (especially despicable - the conservative media), it just may be too much to overcome.

I can confirm the Newt crowds are huge. I went to a little restaurant in St. Pete to hear him. There were at least 800 - 1000 people. I was stunned.

From the article (this is rich):
A top aide to Mr. Romney on Wednesday dismissed the difference in crowd sizes, saying that Mr. Romney’s campaign had made a tactical decision to focus less on crowd size ...

Sure, most politicians don’t like big crowds. Yeah, right.

..Republican establishment, fellow travelers in the so-called alternative media, skewed polling, and an all-out nuclear attack with negative ads-- if Newt survives this he will take it all IMO

As some have already pointed out, after SC, the Romney machine went back to the Iowa playbook.

What is amazing is that many of these people actually think I would vote for Romney in the general--about 20 seconds after I see pigs flying through the air--and not on ski lifts...

Remember, polls cannot be fully trusted. You never know what axe they’re grinding, what their sample size was, or how they framed the choices. That doesn’t stop people from reading tea leaves all the time, though because people feel a need to know and the media is there to give it to ‘em. The only poll that really counts is the one on Election Day.

From what I understand, most polls predicted a tight race when it was Reagan vs Carter back in 1980, but Reagan won by a landslide.

I would trust crowds more than polls in this election ...pollsters all make their money from the current corrupt elitist system by offering their services to the various candidates and media analysts; therefore, even the normally accurate and “trustworthy” pollsters have a vested interest in pushing Romney. Newt is perceived by them as “rogue” ...he has become the de facto Tea Party candidate ...they see Tea Partiers, and Newt, by extension, as a THREAT!!!

A tangential factor is that many analysts believe the 12% Hispanic vote in FL will side w/whomever is the perceived winner (i.e.: ahead in the polls) at the time of the election. Hence, the pollsters have reason to believe that, in this case, perception can, and will, become reality.