Fueled by strong debate, deep pockets and double-digit lead, ex-governor looks to solidify front-runner status  


MIAMI, Florida (AP) ― Mitt Romney pushed for a big win over Newt Gingrich in Tuesday’s Florida primary as he looked to reestablish himself as the clear front-runner in the race to pick a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama.

Polls show Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, with a double-digit lead in Florida, the fourth and largest state so far to hold a nominating contest. Romney has led for much of the race, but suffered a stunning loss to Gingrich in the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary.

He has since bounced back, boosted by strong debate performances and an aggressive attack against Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives.

A Romney win Tuesday is unlikely to end Gingrich’s candidacy. But Romney would have the clear momentum as the race enters a relatively quiet period with lower-profile contests, some in states friendly to the more moderate Romney.

Romney also has the advantage of more campaign money, a stronger national organization and the support of much of the Republican establishment. Gingrich’s populist, sharp-tongued attacks on Obama and media “elites” have helped him emerge as Romney’s chief rival, but some Republicans see him as too erratic to be an effective nominee or president.

Two other candidates, former Sen. Rick Santorum and congressman Ron Paul, are far behind in Florida and national polls.

Romney is generally considered the Republicans’ strongest candidate to face Obama, whose re-election prospects have been hurt by the slow U.S. economic recovery.

But Romney has had difficulty winning over many Republicans who question his conservative credentials given his shifting views on abortion and other social issues, as well as the similarities between a Massachusetts health insurance plan he backed as governor and Obama’s national plan, which is widely despised by Republicans.

Romney is all but predicting victory in Florida.

“With a turnout like this, I’m beginning to feel we might win tomorrow,” an upbeat Romney told a crowd of several hundred at a campaign stop on Monday as he and Gingrich zipped across the state making their final appeals.

Gingrich, in turn, acknowledged that his momentum had been checked but promised not to back down. He characterized Romney as an imposter, and his team started to plot a strategy for upcoming contests.

“He can bury me for a very short amount of time with four or five or six times as much money,” Gingrich said in a television interview. “In the long run, the Republican Party is not going to nominate ... a liberal Republican.”

In the span of a volatile week, the race has been turned upside-down.

Gingrich rode a triumphant wave into Florida after a big upset win in nine days ago. But since then, Romney and his allies have pummeled the former House of Representatives speaker on TV and on the campaign trail. Romney turned in two strong debate performances, while Gingrich faltered. Now opinion polls show Romney with a comfortable lead here.

Romney renewed attacks on his rival as an untrustworthy, Washington influence peddler at the outset of two separate appearances Monday. He claimed that Gingrich’s ties to federally backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac, despised by conservatives, have hurt the former speaker in a state wracked by the foreclosure crisis.

Romney easily won the New Hampshire primary after nearly winning the in leadoff Iowa. The South Carolina setback behind him, Romney sought to aggressively stop Gingrich, aided by a well-funded political action committee that supports him and is run by former political aides.

Together, Romney’s campaign and a supportive group have combined to spend $6.8 million on television ads in the final week of the Florida campaign, about three times what Gingrich and a group supporting him have spent.

Gingrich, for his part, has vowed to stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.

At his final stop campaign stop Monday, Romney ― on pitch ― broke into “America the Beautiful” and led the crowd in a reverent rendition.