>> this week on the journal. editorial report. the fight for the republican nomination moves to the sunshine state. he's spending heavily and on the attack. can mitt romney ride the come back or will newt gingerich get another big win. president obama makes his pitch to middle class voters but will his policies deliver the economic fairness he promises. immigration debate takes a heated two. why two of florida's most prominent republicans are telling candidates to cool it down. >> welcome to the journal editorial report. the battle for the republican nomination moved to the sunshine state this week in what it shaping up to be a two-man fight

between mitt romney and newt gingerich. still fighting from the loss in south carolina romney is campaigning hard and spending big, trying to plant doubt in the minds of voters about gingrich's behavior and record. >> speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them, to influence other people through the washington, encouraging them to not dismantle the two entities. it was an enormous mistake. we should have had a whistle blower, not a horn tooter. >> joining us, dan henninger and jason right riley and kim. >> the large i can for romney seems fob working. he has a lead in florida in the

average of polls. what do you make of what he's been doing? >> good news and bad news about what romney's doing. good news is what he's doing is something he had to do. he had to crack back against gingrich's criticisms of him and he had to do it very well. he is doing it very well. in the debate romney's criticism is showing he's capable of sternly and aggressively going after an opponent. there was no doubt about whether he was do that against obama. the bad news is he's getting down in the muck and mud wrestling with newt gingerich rather than spending time attacking the real opponent, president barack obama, on a whole array of reasons why he should not be reelected. he's telling us newt gingerich was a lobbyist in washington, which we know. >> he's hitting at vulnerabilities that are genuine. freddie mac is a real problem. >> it is but i'm more impressed

with mitt romney has appeared more comfortable in the last two debates, defending his record in the private sector and private equity, his wealth. the performance in the last two debates, in talking about why it's not a liability for the republican nominee to have the background he has, it's an asset, and i think he's made that point very forcefully. and what he's done in pushing back against gingrich is taken on the extent to which gingrich's attacks have been unprincipalled. the class warfare rhetoric. swiss bank accounts, as if romney inheritedded this money and hasn't worked for it. he's pushed back and it's resonating. >> let's look at exchange with rick santorum and romney on romney's record in massachusetts. >> i believe the people of he's state should craft programs they feel are best for their people.

i believe hours are working well. >> what governor romney said is government run top down medicine is working well in massachusetts and he supports that. think about what that means going again barack obama who you'll claim top down medicine doesn't work. he'll say wait a minute, you just said in massachusetts it works well. folks, we can't give this issue away in this election. it's about fundamental freedom. >> so kim, how well did governor romney do in that exchange and follow-up to santorum's charge? >> you have to love rick santorum. he's struggling in the polls but he's done something nobody else has forced mr. romney to do. which is to get in the weeds of the problem of romney care and the liability he will face as nominee. the governor has continued to say, you know, states should be allowed to do what you want. what rick santorum says is no, what you fundamentally believe

in and showed was that government run healthcare is okay. how can you make that contrast? mr. romney didn't have a good answer because the answer has been states should be able to do what they do and he's going to get caught. >> he goes back to his talking points. he cut 500 billion-dollar from medicare, i didn't. as if massachusetts had anything to do with medicare and floundering with talking points that aren't accurate. >> this was a important style distinction in what we saw. mitt romney says the system we have is quote/unquote pretty good. and santorum jumps on that aggressively and says you can't give the issue away. i'm your debate coach, you cannot go against barack obama and talk like that. >> jason, you were impressed with romney's performance but isn't this a vulnerability? >> it is and an storm scored

hits. the question is to what extent this will be an issue in november. how much of the election will be about obama care. >> shoe it -- should it be? >> romney is not the strongest candidate to go after it. he'll say i'm going work to repeal obama care and hope that's enough to neutralize the issue. >> we have rick santorum talking about the candidates. >> these two gentlemen out distracting from the most important issues by playing petty personal politics. can we set aye side that newt was a member of congress and used his skills to advise companies and that's not the worse thing. and mitt romney worked hard and is working hard.

leave that alone and focus on the issues. >> how much damage are these debates doing in this exchange to the republican candidates? that's what santorum is saying, it's doing a lot of damage. >> you can see the white house smiling all the way from here. voters expect their nominee to do two things, act as a conservative leader for a movement that lost its way, the other to defeat barack obama. it's hard to see how these guys advanced this cause in florida. the problem is they may be turning off voters they'll need, independents in particular but also groups like hispanics who have been watching the immigration debate and feel like the kicking people. >> we want to talk about that later. briefly, why can't santorum break through? >> it's just celebrity and the way the debates are structured, the primaries are structured. at the least he should stay in. he's the real tortoise in the

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>> tax reform should follow the buffett rule. if you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. now, you can call this class warfare all you want. asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. >> that was president obama delivering his third state of the union address tuesday night. whether you call it class warfare or common sense democrats call the speech a home run with swing voters. his approval rate climbing toward the 50% mark. is president obama back?

so, kim, what did the speech tell but what obama's election strategy is going to be? >> class warfare, class warfare, the president tried to make the case the economy is doing better. that's a hard case to make. what this mostly was was a populous pitch, the president ticking off a list of boogie men responsible for america's misfortune and laying out ways to go after them. financial firms that need prosecutors sicked on them. >> the thing that struck me was that how little reference there was to his record. talked about the auto bailout for example but healthcare, barely a mention. it's in the witness protection program. barely a mention of stimulus. no mention of deficit except to take credit for the agreement with congress that was more or less forced on him. is this going to work?

>> fairness seems to be his theme and he's claiming -- >> you're not against fairness, are you? >> no but he -- >> within limits. >> maybe henninger is, i don't know. >> it's playing one american against another. no, people are unemployed because buffett isn't paying enough in taxes. know, i don't think it will work. i don't think people envy the wealthy in to the extent he hopes. people want opportunity. on his tax issue, not only did we see the opening calling for a minimum tax on millionaires but more complications for a tax code that everyone agrees is complicated. >> the 30% is a super minimum tax. we have one but this is higher and basically, when the alternative minimum tax was

imposed in 1969, that's what they said. now it applies to millions of middle class families. >> do you think the average american husband and wife out there struggling, sit around the table saying it upsets me that warren buffett doesn't pay as much as in taxes as his secretary. the thing these people have been thinking about is we've had an unemployment rate between 8 and 9% and a economy growing under 2%. >> but manufacturing is back and million jobs. >> and if we give more money to community colleges everybody will be an electrical engineer. this president is vulnerable and he knows it. he's trying to change the subject. the burden will be on his opponent not to change the subject. >> you know, the governor of indiana, mitch daniels, gave a very good response to the state of the union address and once republicans are done beating up

on each other they will do well to revisit the speech. he says to stress opportunity, the have have as and soon to ha. that's what the republican party should focus on. >> my favorite was trickle down government. >> it has not worked. >> kim, if this was not successful, why are democrats so happy with it? that's the message we hear all week. they deemed delighted by this and united behind it and say, look it's moving independents. what's going on? >> right, because i'm going to push back here. this could work. that's what democrats are banking on. if you do not have a republican candidate, nominee, to explain why this is wrong. you have to have somebody with a bold tax reform plan who says the reason why warren buffett pays less than his secretary is because we have a condition -- contorted tax code.

if you don't have lens making that argument they're sunk. democrats are looking at mitt romney and thinking he won't do that. >> sorry, but mitch daniels isn't in the race. >> you know who is, rick santorum. and he said last night he and obama are competing for the same lower, middle class blue collar voters. i would like to see him elaborate on that. >> when we come back, the immigration debate heating up ahead of florida's primary about two of the state's most prominent republicans are telling the candidates to dial it down. should they? ys]♪ ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays]

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mr. speaker i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in

wales. the idea i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. >> i'll give you an opportunity to self describe. you tell me what language you would use to describe somebody to thinks deporting a grandmother or grandfather from their family -- just tell me the language. i'm happy to explain which you would use. >> immigration has been one of the hottest issues in florida where one in ten likely republican voters are latino. a new pole shows mitt romney with a 26 pickup truck lead over newt gingerich with hispanics despite gingrich's claim romney is anti-immigrant. that accusation in a spanish language radio ad that was pulled after marco rubio called it inaccurate and inflammatory. jason, who's getting the better of this immigration debate? >> the democrats are. they're getting the benefit of the immigration debate. the candidates are not very far

apart on this. they spent 20 minutes at the last debate having a superficial decision about what to do with elderly illegal immigrants. they're trying to soften the tone in florida which has a large pro possession of hispanic residents so that's why we're seeing less of a harsh tone than in iowa and what we saw in south carolina and other states. long term this is a problem for republicans because a lot of swing states they'll need, nevada, new mexico, so forth, have large hispanic populations. >> kim, how damaging was it that rubio criticized the ad and they had to pull it. >> hugely damaging. marco rubio is admired by those hispanic republicans who vote in florida. he has stayed neutral in the race but the fact he said

something about newt gingerich, newt gingerich felt the need to apologize, that's how big it was. the reality is mr. gingrich and mr. romney are better than the other republican candidates but what the hispanic community feels is they get used as a wedge when these guys want to kick on someone else about immigration. >> sounds to me as if romney is softening his tone on immigration, saying i love legal immigration. i'm in favor of a guest worker program. very different than the tone he struck against rick perry when rick perry -- all he favored was instate tuition for the children for college of he will illegal immigrants and he made it sound like a great magnet for illegals. why the change? >> in 2008, romney in florida lost the hispanic vote. john mccain got 51%% of the

hispanic vote, romney got 15% so he needs help on that side. bring in jeb bush as well. those are the two most popular public figures in florida. neither are endorsing anyone but both said positive things about mitt romney. i think it adds up to a wink, wink support for romney. >> every time they talk about softening their tone on immigration they come back with making english the official language, that's a shot. >> but hispanics favor that too. >> you don't need to make it official. immigrants know learning english amounts to job skills and leads to wages. >> jeb bush said he thought republicans should talk not so much about border security, though you have to talk a little bit about it but more about immigration as an economic

opportunity and the economic benefits. are republicans doing enough of that? >> no. you know, he would know. say what you will about president bush's time in office but one thing he and his team understood was a need to get the hispanic vote and it was a big part of their election in 2000 and 2004. you do that by casting a positive message. president bush tried in his later years in office. you need a republican nominee willing to take up that man tell. >> how big a hole have republicans dug? >> a very big hole. but the hispanic activists, democrats, are not happy with obama on this and it's unfortunate republicans aren't in a better position to take advancing of -- add advantage of it.sni >> when we come back, hits and

misses of the week. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your ruy nose. [ deep breath ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain.

>> time now for hits and misses of the week. sedan. >> this week andrew cuomo hosted a meeting in new york to discuss infrastructure policy with businessmen but to sit in on the panel, the businessmen had to pay $50,000 apiece. now, sometimes it's said governor cuomo's thinking about running for president. if so it looks like he's spending time in the fundraising gm. >> a hit for the hoosier state. under lawmakers passed right to work legislation which means as a condition of employment a worker will not be required to join a union. governor daniels will sign it, making indiana the 23rd right-to-work state. >> first right-to-work state in a decade. so big deal. kim? >> megahit to the awe-inspiring

navy s.e.a.l. team that rescued two hostages, one a american and one a dane from somali pirates. we've become used to special forces pulling off these feats. it's an amazing amount of training and courage. >> here here. is there any doubt that andrew cuomo is going to run for president in 2016? >> zero. he's going to have the money to do it and friends to do it. >> i think so. any chance mitch daniels still gets into the republican race? >> i don't think so. i don't think so. because it looks like romney is going to take florida and i don't think he'll be caught after that. >> okay. remember if you have your own hit or miss, send it to us at jer@foxnews.com. that's it for this week's edition of the journal editorial report. thank you for