Newt Gingrich (photo courtesy of Creative Commons).

The four remaining GOP candidates will meet in Tampa, Florida for a debate preceding the state’s Jan. 31 primary.

Romney struggled in the past two debates to answer questions about releasing his taxes, reflecting poorly in the polls and among South Carolina voters.

While Romney is said to release the information tomorrow it is unsure whether he will be confronted with similar questions tonight.  Gingrich already released his tax return to put pressure on his opponent to do the same.  

Romney will be met tonight with questions about his private equity work in the firm Bain.  His spiraling response to an unexpected question about it in South Carolina led to a conversation about his personal wealth.

However, Romney’s game plan for tonight’s debate is on the offense rather than the defense. He needs to disqualify Gingrich to demonstrate to voters his place as the GOP nominee, according to MSNBC.

Romney plans to bombard Gingrich with questions about his four years as speaker of the House in the 1990s and role with Freddie Mac.  Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Romney already requested Gingrich release all documents related to his work with the mortgage giant.

He hopes this will strike a nerve with Florida residents who have lost homes and businesses to the mortgage crisis. 

Romney’s second attack will be on Gingrich’s leadership as speaker of the House in the 1990s. At a rally Sunday night in front of 700 Florida voters, Romney called Gingrich a “failed leader,” claiming that he left his position as speaker of the House in “disgrace,” NBC’s Garrett Haake wrote.

While it appears tonight’s debate will be a battle between Gingrich and Romney, the other candidates, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, should not be ignored. The first debate with no clear front-runner, candidates have a shot to improve their ranking. 

The Florida GOP debate will air Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. ET on NBC’s “Rock Center,” with moderator Brian Williams. Watch live at NBCPolitics.com

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Reach staff reporter Lauren Foliart here.