It was hard to tell who took a bigger beating in Monday night's debate -- Newt Gingrich or NBC.

Whatever bump the former House speaker got from South Carolina fell flat in Tampa. Gingrich's vitriol turned to Sominex as he tried to appear statesmanlike and rise above the crowd.

But the crowd was disengaged. Was there even an audience in the house at the University of South Florida? Applause lines were few and far between (Ron Paul got most of them).

Some of the blame for this tepid affair goes to debate host NBC. And Republicans are hoping that CNN will do a better job at Thursday night's showdown in Jacksonville.

"CNN does a much better job of handling debates. They seem to understand this is a big deal and treat it as such," said Billie Tucker, leader of the First Coast Tea Party in Jacksonville.

"I'm looking forward to Thursday night where I will not fall asleep on the couch watching the debate."

Daniel Smith, political science professor at the University of Florida, agreed. "The 'Go Bulls' chant was the only time the audience seemed engaged."

Even Chris Matthews, moaning on sister station MSNBC, called Monday evening "dreadful."

CNN's John King ignited the South Carolina debate when he opened with a question about Gingrich's alleged bid for an "open marriage" back in the 1990s.

On Monday, NBC's Brian Williams appeared determined to squelch any fireworks, and tamp down discussion when they threatened to erupt.

The most interesting exchanges of the night came early when Mitt Romney branded Gingrich an "influence peddler" and declared that the Georgian had resigned his speakership "in disgrace."

Romney followed up with jabs about Gingrich's lucrative consulting work for Freddie Mac.

As Gingrich tried to brush off the attacks, and Romney bored in, moderator Williams halted the hostilities and moved on to other less volatile topics -- leaving viewers with more questions than answers.

Nearly half of the 90-minute debate was consumed by questions from a pair of reporters from the Tampa Bay Times and the National Journal. Their Florida-centric queries were alternately provincial (tourism) and eccentric (Terry Schiavo!).

Other than prompting sycophantic tweets from political junkies, fellow journalists and assorted other press groupies, the appearance by Adam Smith and Beth Reinhard added little of note.

Smith's question about immigration did elicit one newsworthy response from Romney, who talked about "self-deportation." The term flummoxed NBC's Chuck Todd and the network's other commentators, who somehow could not grasp the concept that depriving work and benefits to illegal aliens would send them packing voluntarily.

Romney, an opponent of the DREAM Act, which would grant in-state tuition to illegals, said he would make an exception for those entering military service. Gingrich, the self-professed "Reagan conservative," quickly signed on to that.

And speaking of the military, three of the candidates -- Paul excepted -- unabashedly banged the drum for stepped-up U.S. involvement in global conflicts.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum sounded an alarm over Iran, saying, "al-Qaida is in charge of the country," and warned that Central American countries "are working with the jihadists."

Romney opined that Tehran had already committed an "act of war" in the Strait of Hormuz and argued against drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan "in the middle of fighting season."

Gingrich brought the fight closer to home, saying he would use "every asset" to target Cuba with "covert operations."

"We should overthrow [the] Castro regime for a Cuban Spring," Gingrich vowed.

Unfortunately for the viewing audience, the political battle was never truly joined on stage in Tampa.

George LeMieux, a U.S. Senate candidate who was at the debate, said, "We saw Romney can throw a punch. Everybody was surprised at his level of passion, including Gingrich."

But LeMieux added, "It remains to be seen whether it will be effective."

Seth McKee, a political science professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, filled out his scorecard this way:

"Romney was the winner, Gingrich was the loser, Santorum was steady and unspectacular as usual, and Paul was his typical self -- taking his libertarian talking points to yet another debate knowing full well he isn't viable."

"It was not a debate that will make a lot of headlines or change the dynamic to any meaningful degree," concluded Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist based in Tallahassee.

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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.