Gingrich vows to continue battle no matter how Florida votes
Front-runner Mitt Romney has predicted victory in the pivotal Florida primary, but his chief rival Newt Gingrich vowed to stay in the race for the Republican presidential nomination until the party’s national convention this summer even if he loses Tuesday’s vote.
Polls of Republican voters in Florida show Mr Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, with a single digit lead over Mr Gingrich in what has essentially become a two-man race for the nomination to face President Barack Obama in the November election.
Mr Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, surged ahead of Mr Romney in the Florida polls just after his strong upset victory in last weekend’s South Carolina.
But Mr Romney, who has a huge organisational and financial edge over his rival, appears to have blunted Mr Gingrich’s momentum with stronger-than-expected performances in two Florida debates this past week.
Mr Gingrich has staked his presidential bid on the idea that he is best positioned to defeat Mr Obama because he can offer a distinctly conservative alternative to the president compared to Mr Romney, whom he has labelled a “Massachusetts moderate” for past positions supporting gay and abortion rights.
Mr Romney and his backers – including many in the Republican Party’s establishment wing – are trying to stoke doubts about Mr Gingrich’s electability by highlighting what they consider his liabilities – consulting contracts and ethics investigations among them.
They are suggesting that more baggage could emerge in the general election campaign.
As the two rivals made their appeals to Hispanic, Jewish and social and fiscal conservative voters, veterans of the armed forces and others, all known indicators pointed to a good day for Mr Romney in the primary.
The winner of the Florida primary gains all 50 of the state’s delegates to the Republican convention.
Mr Romney and his allies held a 3-1 advantage in money spent on television advertising in the race’s final days.
“I think we are going to win here, I sure hope so,” Mr Romney said in Panama City.
Mr Gingrich pointed to national polls of Republican voters that showed him leading Mr Romney.
He pledged to remain in a race defined so far by unpredictability, raising the prospect of an extended struggle inside Republican ranks.
“You just had two national polls that show me ahead,” Mr Gingrich said in Port St Lucie.
The increasingly bitter Republican nominating battle may be working to Mr Obama’s ultimate advantage with all the negative television attack ads hurting both candidates among the crucial block of independent voters.
In a recent Washington Post-ABC News national poll, 53% gave Mr Gingrich unfavourable marks and just 22% had a favourable opinion of the former House speaker.
While Mr Romney has typically polled better among independents, the poll conducted between January 18 and 22 found virtually no difference: 51% of independents viewed him unfavourably, compared with 23% with favourable views.
Campaigning like a front-runner, Mr Romney made few references to Mr Gingrich. Instead, he criticised Mr Obama’s plans to cut the size of the armed forces. “He’s detached from reality,” Mr Romney said.
Mr Romney said he wants to add 100,000 troops, not cut them.
Mr Obama has emphasised the completion of the US troop withdrawal from Iraq and the start of a drawdown in Afghanistan as turning points that offer new opportunities to scale back defence spending.
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