5 counties to watch in Florida’s prez primary

TAMPA — Keep an eye on Florida’s electoral map tonight, and you’ll see that the Republican presidential primary is a tale of two Mitt Romneys.

There’s 2008 Mitt Romney, who campaigned as the conservative alternative to John McCain and won big in conservative northeast Florida and southwest Florida. He lost the state by 5 percentage points after McCain overwhelmingly won more moderate southeast Florida and dominated the counties along the I-4 corridor that make up about half the electorate.
The Mitt Romney of 2012 largely eschews the social conservatism he stressed four years ago and instead focuses on his business acumen and ability to turn around the economy. Nobody calls the former Massachusetts governor the conservative alternative this year, and polls suggest he is poised to win Florida’s GOP primary but dramatically redraw his electoral map of four years go.
If he succeeds and dominates areas of the state where he was weak in 2008, Romney will be well positioned to take Florida’s 29 electoral votes in November. … Read more (TBT/Smith)