In a Republican-primary season marked by political chaos, here’s something that finally seems settled: Mitt Romney will win the Tuesday, Jan. 31, Florida primary. So say the latest public polls, several of which suggest Romney has a double-digit lead over Newt Gingrich. So say Romney supporters, who have delighted in discombobulating the former Speaker with a week of overwhelming force from all directions. And so say many Gingrich backers, who are already looking past Tuesday’s contest to find states in which their candidate might live to fight another day. Winning is always better than losing, of course, but a Florida victory would be particularly sweet for Romney. For months, his advisers prepared for scenarios in which Romney lost the Iowa caucuses and the South Carolina primary and relied on a Florida victory to fast-track his march to the nomination. But they didn’t anticipate that Gingrich would be the one to win South Carolina or that a swirl of controversy over Romney’s business background, tax payments, weak debate performances and moderate record as governor would accompany the loss. (PHOTOS: The Rich History of Mitt Romney) Romney and his team have recovered in Florida by returning to attack mode and keeping pressure on Gingrich. They have flooded the TV and radio airwaves with ads, released a phalanx of Establishment supporters to engage with the media, sent pro-Romney members of Congress to rattle Gingrich at his 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. Just as in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Gingrich has faded rapidly in the polls and is now angrily defending himself against attacks that are accurate enough in parts to require a response and inaccurate enough in others to infuriate him. However unlikely, Romney could still lose to Gingrich in Florida, which would make his path to the nomination much tougher. If his South Carolina loss was![]()
