January 30, 2012

Gingrich is off to Walt Disney World (ok, technically Celebration)

Polls have him down, but the former House Speaker isn't giving up. He kicks off voting day in Florida Tuesday with an 8:30 a.m. visit to a polling precinct at the First Baptist Church of Windermere, near Orlando.

He'll also visit his Polk County headquarters, and stop at Fred's Southern Kitchen in Plant City, before wrapping it up at a polling precinct in the Disney-created town of Celebration.

Gingrich says a new poll says he and Romney are tied

Newt Gingrich told a small but enthusiastic crowd at an airplane hangar at Tampa Jet Center that a recent poll has him tied with Mitt Romney at 35 -35 -- though most polls show him trailing by double digits. (Gingrich didn't mention the poll was actually conducted before last week's final debate)

He appeared at a canvernous airplane hangar in Tampa where his campaign had curtained off 2/3 of the hangar, but the crowd didn’t fill the remaining third. He took the stage nearly 2 hours late, but offered no explanation – ripping quickly into Romney and Obama.

He ripped Romney and Obama, before closing with an appeal for help on Tuesday: "We really need your help, we need you on FaceBook, we need you Twittering, if that’s what you do, we need you on email,"he said. "We need you calling people, and to show I’m old fashioned we need you talking face to face …"

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GOP voters unenthusiastic about presidential field

Republican voters still aren't crazy about their potential presidential nominees, according to a new Pew Reserach Center poll.

52 percent of GOP and GOP-leaning registered voters said the field is fair or poor. 46 percent have positive views of the field.

The survey was conducted Jan. 26-29 among 1,006 adults, including 341 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters.

A month ago, just before the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary, 51 percent gave the field excellent or good ratings. 44 percent rated it fair or poor.

The poll also found that more voters thought President Barack Obama understood the problems of average Americans more than top Republican contenders Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. 55 percent said the president understood them very or fairly well.

But 39 percent thought Romney understood well, and 36 percent felt that way about Gingrich.

Romney has 20 point lead in new Florida poll

Mitt Romney's lead is 20 in a new Suffolk University/7NEWS (WSVN-Miami) poll of likely Republican voters in Tuesday's Florida primary.

The former Massachusetts governor had 47 percent, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 27 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 12 percent, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 9 percent.

“It is almost certain that Mitt Romney will top his 39 percent showing in New Hampshire,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “This poll also tells us that Romney could reverse and exceed Newt Gingrich’s percentage and margin in South Carolina – and do it in Gingrich’s backyard.”

Obama camp says Republicans have "sealed their fate with Hispanic voters"

As the Republicans hit the trail today for a last burst of campaigning before Tuesday's Florida primary, President Obama's campaign suggests they've dug themselves into a ditch with Hispanic voters.

The memo from Sergio Bendixen, the Miami-based pollster for Obama for America and Gabriela Domenzain, Hispanic press director, says that the latest polling suggests Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, "may very well have already sealed the political fate of their party with the Hispanic electorate – the fastest growing voting bloc in the country.

The pair cite the latest national Univision/Latino Decisions poll of Hispanic voters and says it "clearly indicates the weak position Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are in with Hispanic voters, and how much of an advantage Barack Obama will have over them in the general election.

"According to the survey, the President has a 72 percent favorability rating among all Hispanic voters and a 25% unfavorability rating. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are both deep underwater, at 28/41 and 24/44, respectively."

Florida GOP ad spending: $24.4 million so far

Total spending on ads for Florida's Republican primary is more than $24 million, NBC reported Monday, most of it by Mitt Romney and his supporters.

Here's the breakdown on major candidates from NBC/Smart Media Group Delta:

-- Ads for Romney: $15.9 million. Romney campaign has spent $7 million. Restore Our Future, a SuperPAC supporting Romney, has spent $8.9 million.

--Ads for Newt Gingrich: $4 million. Gingrich campaign has spent $1.2 million. Winning Our Future, a SuperPAC supporting him, has spent $2.8 million.

Romney has big lead in new poll

Mitt Romney's lead in Tuesday's Florida presidential primary is up to 14 percentage points, according to a new Quinnipiac poll released Monday.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 43-29 percent among likely Republican voters.

24 percent say they could still change their minds, while 7 percent were undecided.

Romney is "headed toward a double digit victory that touches all the GOP bases," said assistant poll director Peter Brown. He carries all regions of the state, as well as Tea Party backers and evangelical Christians.

If Romney wins big Tuesday, Brown said, "it's hard to see where Gingrich goes from here."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul each had 11 percent.

539 likely voters were surveyed Jan. 27-29. Margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points..

January 29, 2012

Gingrich discounts polls suggesting Romney's up by double digits in Florida

After attending service at a mega Baptist Church north of Tampa, the former House Speaker said he's prepared to keep his campaign going -- no matter what happens Tuesday -- saying that the race will be closer than the polls suggest -- and that regardless, Mitt Romney won't get a majority.

"I think that the election will be substantially closer than the two polls that came out this morning," Gingrich said, noting polls as recently as two days ago showed him even with Romney. "The most significant thing in both the polls this morning is that when you add the two conservatives together, we clearly beat Romney. I think Romney’s got a very real challenge in trying to get a majority at the convention."

He dismissed Romney as a timid manager and cast himself as a big thinker, noting his plans for a lunar colony.

"I believe in an America of big solutions, big ideas," he said. "I believe if we unleash the American people, we will rebuild the American dream and I think the contrast between the timidity of a Massachusetts moderate who’s a manager and the boldness of a Reagan conservative whose prepared to be a visionary, prepared to talk about big solutions."

January 28, 2012

Gingrich cuts event short

Newt Gingrich arrived 55 minutes late to a sparsely attended event in Orlando Saturday, then dropped a planned town hall format after less than 7 minutes of remarks to mingle and pose for pictures.

“My competitor on Tuesday has money power,” Gingrich said, explaining why he was changing the format of the event.

“There’s no question he can raise more money from Wall Street than I can. And he has big institutions pouring money in here. What I want to do is have people power. So I want to chat with each one of you personally.and ask each of you to go out on Facebook and on You tube and on Twitter and email, even by telephone and talk to people face to face.”

Gingrich had billed the event as an Hispanic town hall at the Centro de la Familia Cristiana – Christian Family Center - in Orlando. But only about 60 people showed up, and about 420 of the roughly 480 seats went empty. Hosts twice asked people to move to the front rows and center seats to fill in the hall, as they waited for Gingrich.

He mentioned his call for a “Cuban spring,” and his call to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill.

He mentioned Romney twice – once in the opening about Romney’s campaign money and once to say that Romneycare is the same as Obamacare.

“We have a very big decision in a very short time," he said. "I want to ask you to talk to all of ytour friends and neighbors. I have a very simple case. We nominated a moderate in 1996 and we lost. We nominated a moderate in 2008 and we lost. I believe only a solid conservative can debate Barack Obama and win.”

Brokaw is "extremely uncomfortable" with Romney ad; NBC wants its content pulled

Mitt Romney has been running ad this weekend featuring a 1997 clip of Tom Brokaw, then the NBC Nightly News anchorman, describing Newt Gingrich's ethics reprimand.

Pull the NBC content, the network asked Saturday, and Brokaw also objected.

.

"I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad," he said. "I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign."

 No comment from the Romney campaign yet.