Gingrich is the best thing that could have happened to Romney

The brutal and sustained assault has made Mitt Romney a much better, stronger candidate. Here was a man who believed he was cruising to the nomination, and events were backing that belief up. Gingrich shattered that and made him fight for his political life. Romney rose to the challenge. He proved that both he and his campaign have the ice in their blood to go negative on a rival. They have taken the fight to an implacable opponent and – if current polls in Florida hold out – they are winning the war.

It can be hard to do that. Just ask John Kerry, who ignored unfair attacks too long in 2008 and got “Swiftboated”. Not so Romney. Every Gingrich pile-on has been met with something just as egregious right back at the former speaker…

Gingrich may have done the Obama campaign’s work for them, but, from the president’s point of view, he has fired all that ammunition far too early. As such, it has only wounded Romney, and he has a long time to get his message and image back on track. If these things had emerged in September – as Obama’s strategists would no doubt have liked – then they could have proved fatal. Instead, Romney’s taxes and his Bain work might be background noise come November. Most voters will already have taken them on board and will be looking for other stories and issues to get concerned about.