Romney Campaign Press Release - What They're Really Saying About Governor Mitt Romney At The St. Petersburg, FL GOP Debate - Vol. III

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "Romney Wins. Big." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

- Hewitt: "Mitt Romney won the last night's debate because he emerged as a plausible, indeed compelling match-up to Hillary." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

- Hewitt: "Rudy hit him hard --and below the belt, with the 'sanctuary mansion' shot. But so what? We aren't expecting the Clinton's to play nice. Our candidate will have to be able to be 'strong' without being 'mean,' superior on the issues and intellect and ahead on the key test of 'Who shares my values?' That's Romney, and I expect the Clintons know it and will work overtime to take him off the board in the next six weeks. What did Romney do when Rudy swung low? Romney counter-punched. Hard. And for as long as it took. That exchange was the key to this debate. It is why Romney won. Hands down. Going away." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

- Hewitt: "Rudy swung hard and didn't phase Mitt. Huckabee played the victim card and Mitt refused to let him do so. Mitt wins both rounds. And the debate. And, I think, the nomination." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

- Hewitt: "Many GOPers who are leaning Romney in their minds wanted some show of knuckles and they got it." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

- Hewitt: "'Is Romney tough enough, or too nice for the show?' Tonight the skeptics got their answer: Romney will take on Hillary in the fall debates and beat her. Handily." (Hugh Hewitt, "Romney Wins. Big." Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com/, Posted 11/29/07)

The American Spectator's Philip Klein: "The defining moment of the debate was the Romney vs. Rudy exchange on immigration, and I thought Romney came off better once Giuliani went with the 'Sanctuary Mansion' line. Not only did the argument lack substance, but it came off as a cheap shot." (Philip Klein, "Closing Thoughts," The American Spectator's AmSpec Blog, Posted 11/28/07)

The Weekly Standard's Terry Eastland: "Unfortunately for Thompson, Romney and Huckabee both turned in generally strong performances." (Terry Eastland, "Debate Wrap-up," The Weekly Standard, 11/29/07)

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "I talked about the disconnect between Middle American voters and the media. A lot of people in the media would love that answer and a lot of democrats would love the answer that John McCain gave, it was very inspiring. But most Republican voters in Middle America would agree with Mitt Romney. We don't want to go round and talk about what we do to people...Middle American Republican voters agree with Mitt Romney." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 11/29/07)

New York Post's Rich Lowry: "Romney is fluid and unflappable, and showed early on tonight in immigration exchanges with Giuliani and Huckabee something that he has seemed to lack in this campaign - toughness." (Rich Lowry, Op-Ed, "Battling The Past," New York Post, 11/29/07)

Palm Beach Post's Florida Politics Blogger, Brian E. Crowley: "So a quick handicap - Mitt Romney ... [was] the most fun to watch." (Brian E. Crowley, "It's Over – Now It's Time For The Instapundits," Palm Beach Post's Florida Politics Blog, www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs, Posted 11/28/07)

Fox News' Frank Luntz: "Mitt Romney came at Rudy Giuliani directly at the beginning of the debate, and watch how more favorably the reaction is from our dials... when Mitt Romney so clearly differentiated his point of view on immigration to Rudy Giuliani's, that's the incredible response he got back." (Fox News', "Fox & Friends," 11/29/07)

- Luntz: "[Huckabee] did well and improved his image. He didn't outperform Romney or Thompson, but he continues to pleasantly surprise people. Thompson and Romney won. Rudy and McCain lost. Immigration was THE issue." (Mike Allen, "Obama Would Hire (Bill) Clinton," The Politico, 11/29/07)

The New Republic's Noam Scheiber: "I thought Romney hit the right note on immigration... " (Noam Scheiber, "YouTube Debate Wrap-Up," The New Republic's The Stump Blog, www.blogs.tnr.com, Posted 11/28/07)