"Mitt Romney's campaign believes President Obama would much rather face Newt Gingrich than their guy in the election next year. The polls seem to back that up - a new Fox News survey shows President Obama and Mitt Romney are just about tied, but the President defeats Newt Gingrich 46 - 40. Among likely Republican primary voters, it is a far different story, with Gingrich leading Romney by 14 points. At this point it looks like a two-man race between Romney and Gingrich, and the interesting thing is the style difference between the two men. Gingrich is a bomb thrower and will go after President Obama big time, but his flamboyant style alienates some independent voters and conservative Democrats. That's what Mitt Romney is selling, that he is the more reasonable choice to go up against the Democratic machine. There's not much of a philosophical difference between the two, so it comes down to a matter of style. Talking Points believes the competition between Romney and Gingrich will be very intense."

The Factor asked former radio talk show host Michael Reagan to analyze the GOP race. "The President would rather run against Newt Gingrich right now," Reagan said, "because he believes Gingrich has a lot of baggage that he can use against him. But I think people don't care about that baggage; they care about solutions and that's why you see Gingrich ahead in the polls." Talk show host Janine Turner opined that Gingrich will be the more formidable opponent for President Obama. "Newt may have some baggage, but I think a lot of Americans are going to forgive that. We are on the precipice of our republic being fundamentally changed, our debt is at $15 trillion, and Newt has a lot of solutions. I don't think Obama wants to be up against Newt in a debate." But The Factor suggested that Gingrich will alienate some independent voters: "If he gets the nomination, the election will be about him and not the economy. They're just going to keep throwing personal attacks at him."

Boston is the latest city to eject Occupy protesters from public property. Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh, who works in Boston, explained the situation. "There are maybe three dozen protesters left," she reported. "Mayor Tom Menino, probably the most popular politician in Massachusetts and a big supporter of the Occupy effort, feels it's time for them to move on. But this movement has given voice to what people are really concerned about." Alexis McGill Johnson, who heads a progressive think tank, claimed the movement has been a resounding success. "Occupy is actually just getting started and it's been an incredible movement in terms of changing America. You can not evict an idea." The Factor contended that "it's a deficit for the Democrats to link themselves with the Occupy movement."

As reported previously, an illegal immigrant from Mexico named Santana Gaona was being held on a sexual assault charge in Texas, then was ordered released by a federal agency, after which he proceeded to kill another man. The Factor revealed that the agency in question is the FBI, and investigative reporter Sara Carter provided additional background. "Mr. Gaona was an informant for multiple agencies for a number of years," Carter explained. "This is the reality that we live in - these thugs and drug cartels have penetrated our nation to such an extent that our law enforcement agencies are constantly reliant upon criminals like Mr. Gaona to gain information. He had been deported twice and was in jail for sexually assaulting his estranged wife, but the federal law enforcement officials I talked to said there was no evidence that he would commit this type of violence. An innocent man lost his life because of this." The Factor concluded that the feds should have been closely monitoring their informant. "We respect the FBI and Homeland Security and the DEA, and we know they have to deal with unsavory people. But Gaona should have been supervised."

Mexico is on track to have another year with more than 10,000 drug-related murders. The Factor asked Fox News host Geraldo Rivera to analyze the situation. "There are two stories," Rivera said, "the story south of the border and the story here in our country. Thank God we have not yet seen a spike in violence along the southern border due to undocumented immigrants or the Mexican drug cartel violence. We are doing the best we can to cooperate with Mexican authorities - we are now using our drones to spot the smugglers. But in Mexico the dead bodies are piling up and Mexico teeters on the precipice of becoming a failed nation."

Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who ran Goldman Sachs prior to entering politics, is under fire after the financial firm MF Global went bankrupt under his watch. With more than a billion dollars of clients' money still unaccounted for, The Factor asked Fox Business host Lou Dobbs whether Corzine could end up in prison. "I don't think so," Dobbs opined, "and he has testified that he didn't intend to do harm or break any rules. I would like to have some way to hold CEOs responsible when they drive companies into the ground through negligence or sheer incompetence, but there is no law here that has been revealed to have been broken. Right now not one single person or agency has evidence of wrongdoing." The Factor contended that the case merits a full-scale probe: "The guy was in charge of MF Global and now we don't know where the money is. There has to be an FBI investigation."

Arthel Neville and Greg Gutfeld joined The Factor to name the week's dumbest folks and events. Neville began with the Virginia man who put up a display of a crucified skeleton in a Santa outfit. "This 18-year-old guy feels Christmas has become too commercial," she explained, "so this was his way of saying let's get over that. The skeleton represents the attitude that Christmas is too much about gifts, but people are offended by this." Gutfeld went with the atheist group that is harassing a Texas town. "They're demanding that a nativity scene be removed from the courthouse lawn, but people have started a petition all around the world, which is kind of nice." The Factor nominated the Republican candidates who are refusing to attend a debate moderated by Donald Trump, saying, "It would be entertaining if Trump moderated, I'm tired of boring pinheads moderating these debates."

Jim Gambill, Lewistown, MT: "Arrogance has two synonyms: politician and journalist. Both are trashing Donald Trump, but the Trump debate would be the political event of the year."

David Owen, Firestone, CO: "Trump's fame is based on his ego. Therefore, he would be a distraction to a serious debate."

Shannon Laudie, Pleasant Grove, UT: "Margaret Hoover has a double standard. She wants children to respect gays, but believes Pamela Anderson's profane portrayal of the Virgin Mary is funny."

Friday's Pinhead: Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, who fired the latest salvo in his mostly-in-jest feud with Fox News over the "war on Christmas."