Posted on 01/26/2012 6:57:57 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney’s performance in Monday’s debate turned out to be a game-changer after all. Three days after a Rasmussen poll of likely Republican primary voters showed Newt Gingrich up by nine points, a new survey taken yesterday shows Romney has an eight-point lead heading into tonight’s CNN debate:
Mitt Romney has jumped back ahead in the fevered Florida Republican Primary race with his support back to where it was before Newt Gingrich’s big win Saturday in South Carolina.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Republican Primary Voters, taken Wednesday night, shows Romney with 39% support to Gingrich’s 31%. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum earns 12%, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul runs last with nine percent (9%). Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.
That’s a ten-point drop for Gingrich since Sunday’s survey, and a seven-point gain for Romney. The momentum of the debate performance, and perhaps the renewed aggression on the campaign trail for Romney, seems to be firmly established in new polling. That makes tonight a must-win evening for Gingricg, and that probably means a lot of bloody knuckles for both men.
Let’s take a look at the differences in the internals. Very conservative voters still choose Gingrich as the stronger candidate against Obama, but that’s down to 47/34 from 56/24 in the earlier survey. Women had given a three-point edge to Romney on this question, but that has now jumped to 22 points, 52/30, and men now give Romney a nine-point lead where Gingrich had a double-digit advantage. The overall rating on this question now favors Romney by 15 points, 49/34, where Gingrich led by 3 on Sunday. Gingrich’s favorability didn’t change much at 63/35, but Romney’s increased to 73/25.
This looks like a very volatile race, though. A big debate stumble by Romney could reverse this yet again. However, with the tax issue off the table and every other line of attack likely to be a rerun, there’s a question about whether Gingrich can find another way to knock Romney off his stride as he did in South Carolina, or go after the media like he did to win in two debates there.
I hope Newt questions Romney over the fact Norm Coleman says he won’t repeal Obamacare.
Ya’ ever watched baby chicks in a box. When one finds something intresting and pecks at it, all the chicks run over to that corner of the box. Then another one does the same thing somewhere else. All the chicks run back and forth until they are exhausted.
Sort of like these primaries. I’m exhausted.
I’m glad it will all be over by the time it comes to Calif. Then I can write in Palin. ;o)
thank you but he is not the one surging. Mitt is :(
thank you but he is not the one surging. Mitt is :(
He just spoke in my hometown Mount Dora Fl as an observation Newt spends too much time defending himself from attacks rather than sharing his message. He drew a big crowd there again today and I believe he will win but he needs to stay on message and not be distracted.
They realized that showing Newt ahead would mean that Romney voters would be more likely to stay home.
“The momentum of the debate performance, and perhaps the renewed aggression on the campaign trail for Romney, seems to be firmly established in new polling.”
Okay, show of hands of those who think that Myth will go after Obama as hard as he does his “fellow” Republicans?
Anyone?
Obama 60, Romney 40. You heard it here first.
Yeah, if that happens we’d be lucky to get someone like Romney. More likely we’d get someone like Olympia Snowe or Joe Lieberman.
He’s having to fight on all fronts, that’s for sure.
I’ve never seen such “piling on” by both the left and the right....!
If this doesn’t Pi## of the conservative and galvanize them nothing will....!
All the big money and Wall Street has put their bucks on Romney. It has been done.
That is what any other candidate is fighting. The GOP establishment is like the Dem establishment. The candidates that get the Wall Street backing have the edge.
Elections aren’t about the people having any consideration. If the top dogs don’t care for the choice of the little guys, well, thats too bad.
Now, eat yer damn peas.
Newt must mount a full-fledged attack on Romney.
It must INCLUDE brutal assaults on Romney’s electability.
If it doesn’t touch on electability, then Newt is missing the major reason S Carolina voters turned against Romney.
It must hit all of Romney’s anti-conservative ideas: RomneyCare, and the part you mentioned about Romney stating he will not try to end Obamacare.
It must hit all of Romney’s anti-social conservative pro-abortion, pro-gay, anti-gun beliefs.
It must AGAIN hit Bain, but from the standpoint of Bain’s crony capitalism and defrauding of taxpayers. (Damon labs being one example)
And, if it can make the link, it must show Romney using his governorship to help Bain and draw the inference that Romney is REALLY a covert lobbyist for Bain in the President’s chair.
All of the media is 24/7 anti-Gingrich, and Fox News yesterday was round the clock anti-Gingrich.
Newt must hammer this next debate and go over their heads. That’s his route to success.
The tracking polls for primaries are EXTREMELY unreliable.
i think you're right. Look at what happened after the ex wife's interview and when the media tried to tie it around newt's neck. That was a huge backlash. Not the desired effect for sure!
Yes, and then the GOP establishment will learn their lesson about nominating a milquetoast liberal Republican, just like they learned their lesson after Ford in '76, Dole in '96, and McCain in '08....
The best thing Newt could do to zing Romney would to bring up that one of Romney’s advisors has said Obamacare will not be fully repealed.
In Florida, that would be a killer diller.
To the extent I believe this poll, it is evidence of what happens when you have a ton of money AND the media sucking up to you.
This fall, Obama will probably have 700+ million in money, and the news media will be totally in the tank for him. Mitt will fold as quickly as McCain did.
Anyone who expects the fall to be a cakewalk (Rush?) is fooling themselves. When your opponent has 10 times the cash, and 99% of the media, there is no such thing as a fair campaign.
This has been an extremely interesting GOP primary cycle. Previous ones were like coronations very early in the game. This is not only not a coronation - it’s one where the fight might go all the way to the convention floor. I’m hoping that whomever wins has enough fight left to take it to Obama.
Sorry just don’t see it, Mitt is just picking up a few points because of lies and distortations. Newt can and will easily overcome this in a day or two.
Conservative will be pisse# after watching all the “piling on” by the establishment, leftist, and “so called” conservaive media. The tide will turn.....!!!!!
Some great points. In the same theme, The GOP-E has been coordinated and vicious against a conservative.
In the General, they’ll be uncoordinated, lame...McCain all over again....
They suck...I’m leaving the GOP if Mitt is nominated.
America is 40 percent conservative, this country is ours for the taking.
The reality is, we always though we had Fox and radio to counter Liberalism/Progressivism....it’s becoming abundantly clear that we were wrong.
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