The New York Times looks at how Mitt Romney set aside his focus on President Obama to treat Newt Gingrich “as its chief obstacle, realizing that a loss here in Florida could cripple the campaign.”

“Breaking into teams, they divided duties for a new plan to put unrelenting pressure on Mr. Gingrich, hoping to make him angry enough to throw him off track and remind voters about the most unflattering aspects of a record forgotten during a decade in which he solidified his status as a wise man in the party.”

Craig Crawford: “Romney proved something in Florida. He’s all about psychological
warfare, and his team knows how to wage it. Mitt’s operatives sized up
the profile of their foe, Newt Gingrich, found his hot buttons and
jammed them until he squealed like a stuck pig.”

Mark Halperin: “Romney and his team have recovered in Florida by returning to attack mode and keeping the pressure on Gingrich. They have flooded the airwaves with TV and radio ads, released a phalanx of Establishment supporters to engage with the media, sent pro-Romney members of Congress to rattle Gingrich at his own campaign events, and debuted a more aggressive Romney on the stump and in the most recent debate. Even Romney’s most optimistic backers could not have anticipated how thoroughly the former Speaker would be thrown off message by their assault.”

Paul Begala: “If his predecessor cursed Obama by handing him a depression and two wars, the Good Lord has blessed him with the weakest field of opponents in memory. I stand by my early assessment: when I look at the economy, I think Obama can’t win, but when I look at the Republicans, I think he can’t lose. The economy is starting to get better; the Republicans aren’t. The president has moved to the populist center, smoothly co-opting the legitimate grievances of the Occupy Wall Street movement and ensuring that he wouldn’t face a primary challenge from the left. ‘Barack’ means blessing in Swahili. Perhaps ‘Obama’ means luckier than a dog with two tongues.”

Newt Gingrich has been outspent on the Florida airwaves by a nearly $12 million, Politico reports.

“That’s just the differential in paid-media spending, so it doesn’t include Romney’s edge in field operations, mail, et cetera. And Romney’s advantage isn’t likely to go away in the primary, though the general election is an entirely different story.”

A new Rasmussen survey in Florida shows Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich by 16 points, 44% to 28%, with Rick Santorum at 12% and Ron Paul at 10%.

A forthcoming We Ask America poll in Florida shows Romney ahead by 22 points.

Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs “is back on the Obama payroll as a roving surrogate and strategic consultant for the president’s reelection effort,” Politico reports.

“The contract represents a ‘formalization’ of the relationship between the Chicago-based campaign and Gibbs, who has had an informal relationship with the campaign since last May. It’s not clear how much he’ll be paid, but that’s what quarterly campaign filings are for.”

Newt Gingrich insisted the Republican presidential race would continue for “four or five months” even if he loses the Florida primary this week.

John Heilemann: “Pledges to continue the fight unabated in the face of harsh and/or humiliating outcomes are staples of presidential campaigns. And they are also patently meaningless. (Please recall Jon Huntsman’s feigned brio on the night of the New Hampshire primary — and his departure from the race a few days later.) But in Gingrich’s case, he might be serious, so much has he come to despise Romney and the Republican Establishment that has brought down on him a twenty-ton shithammer in Florida, and so convinced is he of his own Churchillian greatness and world-historical destiny. The same antic, manic, lunatic bloody-mindedness that has made him such a rotten candidate in the Sunshine State may be enough to keep him the race a good long time.”

“I think that the election will be substantially closer than the two polls that came out this morning. When you add the two conservatives together we clearly beat Romney,” Mr. Gingich said. “I think Romney’s got a very real challenge trying to get a majority at the convention.”

— Newt Gingrich, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, adding that the GOP presidential race is “going to be a straight-out contest for the next four or five months.”

A new NBC/Marist poll in Florida shows Mitt Romney on his way to a decisive victory in the state’s GOP presidential primary.

Romney leads Newt Gingrich by 15 points, 42% to 27%, followed by Rick Santorum at 16% and Ron Paul at 11%. Just 4% said they were undecided.

A new American Research Group poll shows Romney leading Gingrich by 11 points, 43% to 32%, followed by Santorum at 11% and Paul at 8%.

Nate Silver notes that about one-third of Floridians have already voted in the GOP presidential primary.

“Since Mr. Gingrich only led Mr. Romney for a few fleeting days in the polls, that means that Mr. Romney should have banked an advantage, and that Mr. Gingrich would need to win by perhaps 5 or 10 points on Election Day to claim the state. That could also lessen the impact of late-breaking developments in the news cycle — like Mr. Gingrich receiving the endorsement of Herman Cain.”

Nearly every Florida poll shows Mitt Romney with a solid lead in the GOP presidential primary.

A new Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times poll shows Romney at 42%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 31%, Rick Santorum at 14% and Ron Paul at 6%.

Said pollster Brad Coker: “What does Gingrich need to do? I would say Romney would need to implode. If there’s no 11th hour surprise, this race is looking right now like it’s over.”

Associated Press: “Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you’re in Romney territory. He would be among the richest presidents in American history if elected — probably in the top four.”

“What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque rewriting of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.”

— Sarah Palin, writing on Facebook, defending Newt Gingrich against attacks made by Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney unleashed a very effective political ad today targeting Newt Gingrich in Florida which consists only of a clip of Tom Brokaw from “NBC Nightly News” on Jan. 21, 1997.

[Read more…]

Herman Cain threw his support to Newt Gingrich in the GOP presidential race, the Washington Post reports.

“The move by the former GOP candidate and tea-party favorite comes three days before the Florida primary, at a moment when Gingrich is badly in need of something to rekindle the momentum he gained in the wake of his South Carolina primary victory.”

Said Cain: “had it in my heart and mind a long time. Speaker Gingrich is a patriot. Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida shows Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich among Republican primary voters by eight points, 40% to 32%, followed by Rick Santorum at 15% and Ron Paul at 9%.

A new War Room Logisitics (R) poll shows Romney leading Gingrich by 10 points, 40% to 30%, with Santorum at 15% and Paul at 6%.