Ross Douthat says Newt’s flame-out in the two Florida debates showed that anti-Romney Republican voters bet on the wrong horse:

I also think it’s important to recognize that some of what we’ve seen this week are problems inherent to Gingrich’s candidacy: You just can’t expect a rich Washington insider with considerable personal baggage, an endless enemies list within the party, and a long history of ideological flexibility to exploit Mitt Romney’s myriad weaknesses terribly effectively, at least so long as Romney himself is willing to fight back. The evidence of last night’s debate suggests, once again, that Santorum would have been a more effective anti-Romney over the long haul than Gingrich. But the people of South Carolina wanted Newt, not Rick — and don’t think that Romney isn’t grateful to them.

Florida polls are trending Romney in the wake of the debates, so it looks like most Florida GOP voters are sobering up. Assuming that’s accurate, this story from today’s NYT offers a fascinating, and kind of pitiful, snapshot of this race:

As Republican presidential candidates duke it out down here in Florida, the most visible measure of how they are doing is the crowd count.

And by that very simple measure, Newt Gingrich is crushing his opposition.

At an event Tuesday afternoon, more than 1,500 people showed up to rally for Mr. Gingrich. Later that evening, he stood before as many as 5,000 people, all applauding his surge toward the Republican nomination. And then on Wednesday, another 4,000 people.

Contrast that to Mitt Romney, who, according to polls, is roughly tied with Mr. Gingrich in the state. He, too, has been traveling around Florida in an effort to recover the momentum he had after a big win in New Hampshire.

Mr. Romney has not had a crowd with more than a couple hundred people since he arrived in the Sunshine State.

Republican voters have about as much passion for Romney as David Gest had for Liza Minnelli.  But it’s starting to look like they’re voting their heads, not their hearts.