Herman Cain last night in West Palm Beach threw his support to fellow GeorgianNewt Gingrich.
“It is time for conservatives and Republicans to refocus their attention on the ultimate mission of defeating President Obama,” Cain said. “I believe Speaker Gingrich is the bold leader we need to accomplish this mission.” (TBT/Leary)
Mitt Romney needed Florida to resuscitate his campaign after a South Carolina routing, and on Tuesday, Florida is poised to deliver big.
A new Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll found Romney easily beating Newt Gingrich among likely Republican primary voters, with 42 percent support to Gingrich’s 31 percent. Santorum trailed with 14 percent,followed by Ron Paul at 6 percent.
What looked like a neck-and-neck race at the start of last week quickly shifted in Romney’s favor as he and his allies drowned Gingrich on Florida TV and the former House speaker turned in two listless debate performances.
Romney leads in every region of the state — and by 16 percentage points in Tampa Bay. The two Republican front-runners are closest in conservative North Florida, where Romney had 36 percent support and Gingrich 31 percent.
“Romney’s margin is largely driven by Republican women, and he also has a very strong base of support among the Hispanic community,’’ said Brad … Read more (TBT/Smith)
“We could see an October surprise a day from Newt Gingrich.” — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney taking aim at Newt Gingrich
“It used to be pious baloney, now it’s desperate baloney.” — GOP White House hopeful Newt Gingrich’s new nickname for Romney’s rhetoric.
“…well, you kind of get your panties in a wad, and you may say things that you regret later.” — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin advising Chris Christie.
“He didn’t feel that I had treated him cordially.” — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer talking about a tense encounter with President Obama.
“Seems a little bit like I was being detained.” — Sen. Rand Paul discussing his run-in with airport security. (TSA disputed that Paul was “detained.”)
“It reminded me a little of Saturday Night Live, I guess.” — RNC chairman Reince Priebusreacting to Obama’s State of the Union address.
“Eagles… next year. Love Brady, think @Giants.” — Vice President Joe Biden tweeting about who will win the Super Bowl. (Politico/McDevitt)
Just a week after the former Massachusetts governor took a thumping from Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, and five days after the release of his tax returns, Romney is ahead in the latest polls and confident in the run-up to Florida’s primary on Tuesday. He held just two campaign stops Saturday and plans three more Sunday while Gingrich, now trailing in the polls, is racing around the state.
At The Fish House restaurant here Saturday morning, Romney left the Gingrich-bashing to surrogates John McCain and Jon Voight while he gently chided the former House speaker for complaining about the Jacksonville debate crowd.
“I had fun last night,” a visibly happy Romney said to loud applause at a Friday night Orlando rally, referring to the debate. (Politico/Eipstein)
DORAL – A day after most pundits agreed Mitt Romney had bested Newt Gingrich in Thursday night’s nationally-televised debate, he received enthusiastic applause and several standing ovations while speaking to about 500 leaders at the Hispanic Leadership Network conference. Gingrich? Not so much.
The two GOP presidential candidates said many of the same things to the group formed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. For instance, both want to open up trade with Latin America, both want to free Cuban from the clutches of Fidel Castro, both said they love immigrants but hate illegal immigration and both want the Dream Act to require American-raised children of immigrants to serve in the military before they can achieve citizenship and what is now an elusive college education. However, Gingrich’s speech fell flat. Some suggested he was tired after flying from Jacksonville to Miami immediately after the debate to make a morning appearance before the Latin Builders Association. John Papavaritis, a Miami real estate agent, agreed that the two candidates agreed on many issues. For instance, both said something has to be done to streamline the nation’s bureaucratic process of obtaining visas, which prevents people from visiting and working here. “Gingrich said the same thing,” Papavaritis admitted. “With Mitt, there was less rhetoric.” (PostPolitics/Musgrave)
President Obama won’t say who he’s rooting for in this year’s Super Bowl.
“I can’t call it. I can’t call it,” Obama told ABC News’s Diane Sawyer in an interview on Thursday. “When the [Chicago] Bears are not involved, I can’t make predictions because I will get into trouble.”
Calling both the New England Patriots and New York Giants “great teams,” Obama complimented Tom Brady as “obviously one of the best quarterbacks we’ve ever seen” and said Eli Manning is “playing as well as he’s ever played.”
Vice President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has officially picked the Giants to win – after accidentally declaring that the team would beat the 49ers in San Francisco last week. Biden tweeted his prediction on Thursday: “Eagles… next year. Love Brady, think @Giants.” (Politico/McDevitt)
Not sure this will generate a press release from the Mitt Romney campaign, but former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer is weighing in on Newt Gingrich’s efforts to link Mitt Romney with Charlie Crist because they have campaign consultants in common:
“Romney advisors never were Crist believers!,” Greer emails. “The recent attacks against Mitt Romney about having former Charlie Crist people on his staff is just wrong . As someone who knows first hand, I can say that the people who worked for Crist including those who are our now working for Romney were very concerned and frustrated with Governors Crist’s lack of commitment to conservative principles and several were already preparing to leave the Crist campaign even before Crist left the GOP. A united party is the the best chance the GOP has to winning the White house and it should start with ending these type of attacks. ” (TampaBayTimes/Smith)
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Jan 29 2012
The two GOP presidential candidates said many of the same things to the group formed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. For instance, both want to open up trade with Latin America, both want to free Cuban from the clutches of Fidel Castro, both said they love immigrants but hate illegal immigration and both want the Dream Act to require American-raised children of immigrants to serve in the military before they can achieve citizenship and what is now an elusive college education.
