Romney Poised to Regain Momentum with Florida Victory
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(MIAMI) — Four years ago, Florida sealed Mitt Romney’s fate as the vanquished opponent of Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary, but on Tuesday, the state is poised to send the former Massachusetts governor surging into February as the overwhelming favorite to secure the party’s nomination.
Romney holds double-digit leads in just about every poll to emerge from the Sunshine State in the past week.
It’s quite a change, not only from four years ago but from a mere 10 days ago. Romney endured a tough showing in the South Carolina primary, where he not only lost the state by a resounding margin to Newt Gingrich but also lost his apparent victory in Iowa when Rick Santorum was declared the winner by 34 votes.
In Florida, Romney’s campaign pulled out all the stops. He hit the airwaves hard, with attack after attack on Gingrich. In the debates, Romney took a more aggressive approach than he had in weeks previously. He shelled out money, outspending Gingrich — when the outside super PACs are included — by a reported 5-to-1 margin. And now it appears that his approach is going to pay off.
“I think it’s going to be a solid victory for Romney,” Republican strategist Carlos Curbelo said in an interview. “And it’s an important test for him because he came into this state limping and was able to recover, get back on his feet, get back on offense.”
The lesson, Curbelo said, is to stay aggressive.
“Romney — after his New Hampshire victory — started acting presidential, and it backfired. Gingrich almost started doing the same thing after South Carolina, especially in the debates he was very cautious in his responses to Romney’s attacks. But if you’re not on offense, you’re losing. It’s good practice for the general election because we know the Obama machine is going to be out there in full force. They’re probably going to have more resources than whoever the Republican is — and whoever it is better be ready to fight,” Curbelo said.
Another key element to Romney’s Florida revival has been his widespread support among the state’s Latino voters. Florida has the third-largest Hispanic population in the country. According to data from the Florida Division of Elections compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center, Latinos make up 13.1 percent of the state’s 11.2 million registered voters.
Whereas four years ago Latinos opted en masse for McCain, this time around they appear poised to back Romney. According to a recent poll conducted by Latino Decisions for ABC News and Univision, Romney has a 49-17 percent lead over Gingrich among Cuban-Americans, the state’s most powerful Latino voting bloc, and a 22-12 edge among Puerto Ricans.
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