From Jacksonville, Florida -
The best part about covering a political campaign is that you get to know the stump speeches almost by heart, because you hear them day after day, week after week. And it means when the candidate slips in something new, you notice immediately.
That was the case in recent days for Mitt Romney, as he has steadily turned up the rhetoric against Newt Gingrich - and it was true for Gingrich as he began to take aim more at the "establishment."
It's not that Gingrich just discovered the word, as he's been railing against the media and party elites/establishment for months on the campaign trail.
But with polls showing him trailing here in Florida, Gingrich this weekend started to turn his talk back to the 2012 version of "throw the bums out."
"I am not running for the President to manage the decay of the United States to the satisfaction of the establishment," Gingrich told a big crowd Sunday at The Villages, a famous senior community north of Orlando.
On Saturday in Port St. Lucie, Gingrich noted that "the establishment in both parties is terrified" that he could actually win, arguing that's why he has been subjected to a torrent of negative ads on radio and TV in the Sunshine State.
"The truth is, we have been served badly - the American people - by the establishment in both parties," Gingrich said yesterday, charging that Wall Street and the political elites are joining forces to stop him.
"We want somebody who is going to force, dramatic, bold, fundamental change on Washington and on New York," said Gingrich.
Gingrich on Sunday not only was starting to call for change in Washington, but also on Wall Street - and in New York - an obvious slap at Romney, but not one by name.
In his speech Sunday at the Villages, Gingrich was less direct in his criticism than he had been on Saturday when I caught up with him in southern Florida.
Instead, the former Speaker was weaving a new campaign battle flag, one that's fully against "The Establishment."
"48 hours to go," Gingrich tweeted on Sunday night.
"We can defeat the Republican establishment & change Washington," the Gingrigh tweet said.
I immediately wondered when I saw that - how often has Gingrich used the word "establishment" on Twitter?
I looked at this entire month, and the answer is just twice. Once on Saturday and once on Sunday.
The Tea Party style message is certain to play well with some voters here, though the polls indicate it might be too little, too late.
Both Gingrich and Romney start their Monday with rallies in Jacksonville as they make one last tour around the state of Florida before Tuesday's Primary.
Romney and Gingrich are the only two candidates here - Ron Paul left last Thursday night after the debate, and Rick Santorum has decided to campaign in other states, as he will stump Monday in Minnesota and Missouri, Tuesday in Colorado and Nevada.
