By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On a day that combined two campaigns into one, President Barack Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to raise taxes on the rich as GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich swiped at him on the economy and criticized each other over immigration.
With a week to go before the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars. They have reported spending $14 million combined on commercials, many of them critical of Gingrich, and a total at least seven times bigger that the investment made by the former House speaker and an organization supporting him.
Obama’s political timeline was a different one, Election Day on Nov. 6. In a campaign-style appearance in Iowa, he demanded Congress approve a tax increase for anyone like Romney whose income exceeds $1 million a year.