COMMENTARY | Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, winner and also ran, addressed their supporters on the night of the Florida primary. Their speeches took a similar approach -- looking ahead to their inevitable triumph over President Barack Obama.
But with Romney beating Gingrich by 14 percentage points, according to the Associated Press, the speeches could not have been more different in tone.
Having just carpet bombed Gingrich into defeat, Romney's speech took the high road on his opponents, calling them "gentlemen" and congratulating them on a hard-fought campaign. Then he laid into Obama with a will, laying out the bill of particulars against him while explaining how a President Romney would work to restore the damage he has wrought. The tone was positive, soaring, and -- dare one say -- Reaganesque in its optimism.
Gingrich, visible angry from his defeat, took a more defiant tone, according to Hot Air. He summoned a delightful image of a newly sworn in President Gingrich, signing executive order after executive order overturning as much of the Obama presidency as he had the power to do, even while the inaugural balls are in full swing.
There would be not much time for golfing, singing or partying under a Gingrich administration. The task of saving American will be a long and arduous one. Gingrich also slipped in how he -- unlike some other people -- can make a speech without a teleprompter.
If the campaign going forward consists of variations of those two speeches, with each man vying over who would be the best president, many people would be so relieved. The Florida primary consisted of accusations and counter accusations, some over matters so trivial that next to an anemic economy and a world sliding into instability that mentioning them was a waste of breath. No matter which man one supported -- and both have their gifts and weaknesses -- the Florida primary made one just want to take a bath and then a stiff drink.
Will, by the time the convention rolls around in August, the two men who have been picnicking on one another be able to lock arms toward the common goal of Obama's early retirement? While one gets the impression that for Romney it has been business, not personal, for Gingrich it has been personal. But whoever wins needs to be magnanimous and whoever loses should get over it.
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