Michigan isn’t like those states either. And Rush is wrong to suggest that negative ads automatically equate to winning, if so we can pull up our stakes now, because Obama’s going to outspend anybody we have.
You are giving reasons why Newt collapsed; does it really matter why? The object is to win the nomination, not have good reasons why a candidate didn’t.
Anyway, I would reject your contention that Florida is like New Jersey, or New Hampshire (those two states are remarkably different from each other, and from Florida).
Santorum survived enough in Michigan to get the same number of delegates as Romney. So, is Santorum just tougher than Newt or perhaps he just has a bigger constituency.