A new Quinnipiac poll in Florida shows Mitt Romney edging Newt Gingrich, 36% to 34%, among likely Republican primary voters. They are followed by Rick Santorum at 13% and Ron Paul at 10%.

However, Gingrich leads Romney, 40% to 34%, among likely voters surveyed after the South Carolina primary.

A new American Research Group poll shows Romney leading Gingrich, 41% to 34%, followed by Santorum at 9% and Paul at 7%.

Meanwhile, a new Univision-ABC News survey shows that among Hispanic Floridians planning to vote in next Tuesday’s GOP primary, Romney holds a 15 point advantage over Gingrich, 35% to 20%, with Paul and Santorum polling at 6% and 7% respectively and 21% undecided.

The latest Gallup tracking poll shows Newt Gingrich leading the Republican presidential field nationally with 31%, followed by Mitt Romney at 27%, Rick Santorum at 12% and Ron Paul at 12%.

A new Rasmussen survey has similar results: Gingrich leads with 35%, followed by Romney at 28%, Santorum at 12% and Paul at 12%.

Mitt Romney’s campaign released hundreds of pages of tax documents, the New York Times reports, “providing an inside glimpse into his sprawling investments, both in the United States and abroad, in an effort to dampen the attacks on his wealth that have become a central focus of the Republican presidential nominating battle.”

“Mr. Romney and his wife, Ann, had an effective federal income tax rate in 2010 of 13.9 percent, paying about $3 million in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $21.6 million, the vast majority of it flowing from a myriad of stock holdings, mutual funds and other investments… That rate will rise to 15.4 percent for 2011, when the couple expects to report an adjusted gross income of about $20.9 million.”

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Mitt Romney’s popularity has dropped dramatically with an unfavorable rating at 49% and favorable rating at 31%.

It’s even worse among independents: 51% don’t view him favorably while just 23% do.

Jonathan Chait: “The Obama campaign would almost certainly still prefer to run against
Gingrich. But the electability gap between the two leading contenders is
dwindling. No wonder more and more conservatives are frantically
casting about for a new candidate to jump in and save the day.”

“My ability to organize and orchestrate things would be vastly greater than a normal politician.”

— Newt Gingrich, quoted by CBN News.

A new We Ask America poll in Florida shows Mitt Romney leading his GOP presidential rivals with 34%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 32%, Rick Santorum at 9% and Ron Paul at 8%.

A new Florida Chamber poll shows Gingrich and Romney deadlocked at 33% each in Florida.

David Frum: “It’s striking that almost none of Gingrich’s former colleagues in the House has endorsed him for president. Striking that nobody associated with a past Republican presidential association has done so. He is a candidate of talk-show hosts and local activists — and of course of Rick Perry and Sarah Palin — but not of those who know him best and have worked with him most closely. Gingrich may raise more money after his South Carolina win. But prediction: Romney will raise even more, among the great national network of Republicans who recognize that to nominate Gingrich is to commit party suicide.”

Jon Meacham: “The analogous elements are obvious. Like Nixon, Gingrich is smart, with a wide-ranging and entrepreneurial mind. Like Nixon, Gingrich is a striver who seems insecure around traditional establishment figures even though he has achieved much more than nearly all of the politicians, editors and reporters he seems to at once loathe and fear. Like Nixon, Gingrich is fluent in the vernacular of cultural populism, brilliantly casting contemporary American life in terms of an overarching conflict between ‘real’ people and distant ‘elites’ bent on the destruction of all that is good and noble about the United States.”

“At the moment, that record is held by the 2000 New York Senate race between Hillary Clinton and Rep. Rick Lazio (R). The two candidates raised and spent a combined $70 million in that contest — about $40 million by Lazio and $30 million by Clinton,” Aaron Blake reports.

“With Brown and Warren approaching $25 million raised at the end of 2011, they would need to raise and spend another $45 million in 2012 to break the record. Given the quickening pace of donations, that looks likely.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida shows Newt Gingrich leading Mitt Romney by five points in the GOP presidential race, 38% to 33%, followed by Rick Santorum at 13% and Ron Paul at 10%.

Key findings: “Gingrich has gained 12 points since a PPP poll conducted in Florida a week ago. Romney has dropped 8 points. Paul and Santorum have pretty much remained in place. Their favorability numbers show similar trendlines. Gingrich’s has increased 8 points from +15 (51/36) to +23 (57/34). Meanwhile Romney’s has declined 13 points from +44 (68/24) to +31 (61/30).”

If you missed it, the Daily Beast has video clips of the best moments of tonight’s GOP presidential debate.

Ron Fournier: “Somebody must have awakened the cool-and-nonchalant Romney out of his debate slumber and told him the GOP nomination was slipping away. Gingrich stunned the political world — and frightened much of the GOP establishment — with a landslide victory in South Carolina on Saturday night that erased Romney’s lead in national and Florida polls.”

Andrew Sullivan: “What a different Gingrich tonight: eager to thank and support his rivals; humble with respect to the huge challenges ahead. He has decided to cut the fireworks to foil his critics. And I presume his Super PAC will meanwhile open up various cans of whup-ass on Romney. So this is Newt on his best behavior. Even when Romney called him a ‘disgrace’ three times. Maybe Gingrich is trying to reassure the establishment that he is not the constant bomb-thrower and surprise agent. Maybe he realizes he needs to look more presidential. My own take is that this gambit cannot work for Newt. He is not a serene statesman. He’s a ferocious demagogue. That’s all he knows. I don’t find the new Newt very appealing. But maybe tactically, it makes sense.”

Howard Kurtz: “Mitt Romney was so anxious to attack Newt Gingrich in Monday’s NBC debate that it was as though he was delivering a PowerPoint presentation on speed.”

David Brody: “Romney was very much on the offensive tonight as he landed subtle punch after punch on Gingrich’s record of leadership and attempting to paint him as a Washington insider. It’s a smart play by Romney and a strategy that he must implore. If Romney can paint Gingrich as your typical influence peddling same old politician then voters will be turned off and Romney will probably see himself on top again very soon. So this is an important battle. The problem for Romney is that Gingrich has SO FAR been able to masterfully turn his insider image into this outsider man of the people.”

Tim Alberta: “Like a stand-up comedian whose routine suffers without echoes of laughter egging him on, Newt Gingrich appeared to be a candidate without cadence Monday night when he found himself searching hopelessly for the secret weapons that have proven crucial to his season of strong debate performances: moderators to scold and audience members to energize.”

With a crucial debate tonight and another one on Thursday, the New York Times reports Mitt Romney has recruited Brett O’Donnell, who served as one of Michele Bachmann’s top strategists during her short-lived presidential campaign, as his new  debate coach.

“O’Donnell is a veteran of presidential debates, having served as a top debate coach to Senator John McCain of Arizona during the 2008 campaign. In that role, he helped prepare Mr. McCain for debates against Mr. Romney and brings those insights to the current sessions.”