HIALEAH, Fla. - Mitt Romney barreled through South Florida yesterday, bolstered by impressive poll numbers and a strengthening sense he will withstand a backlash from conservatives and Tea Party supporters to win the important Florida primary tomorrow.
Polls indicated that Romney has increased his lead in Florida to double digits, despite rival Newt Gingrich’s last-minute assists from former candidate Herman Cain and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
Just days ago the race was considered a dead heat; Romney’s surge follows his recent shift in strategy toward personally attacking Gingrich and calling in a roster of establishment figures to rattle his rival.
Yesterday, an increasingly confident Romney openly mocked Gingrich, saying he saw him on television “describing his excuses, and why he wasn’t doing so well here in Florida.’’
“He’s looking for some kind of excuse, but I’m afraid the real reason he hasn’t been successful connecting with the people of Florida is because of his message,’’ Romney told several hundred voters here in a parking lot at Casa Marin Restaurant.
Gingrich, acknowledging he is facing a “very tough campaign here,’’ nonetheless vowed to press on through the spring and to the national convention in August.
“I am in fact the legitimate heir to the Republican movement - not some liberal from Massachusetts,’’ Gingrich told hundreds of voters in a strip-mall parking lot in The Villages, an enclave of senior communities in Central Florida.
A win in Florida - the largest and most diverse of the early primary states - would put Romney back in control for the eventual nomination after a turbulent first month of the process. Already benefiting from an immense war chest, far-reaching organization, and support from the Republican establishment, Romney is in a position to steal Gingrich’s most lethal weapon - momentum - as the race moves to a larger, more costly national stage.
Seven states will be voting over the next month and Super Tuesday, with its 10 contests, looms on March 6.
The race in Florida has culminated with a barrage of negative campaigning from Romney and a supportive super PAC that has seemed to overwhelm Gingrich and frustrate his supporters.
“It’s been the nastiest primary in 50 years in the business I’ve ever seen, so I’m disappointed,’’ said Paul Senft, a Republican National Committee member from Florida and a Gingrich supporter. “That’s why I think there’s a backlash right now, and I’m saying both have done some negative things. It’s just one has 10 times more money to do it with.’’
A week ago, Gingrich was on the rise after crushing Romney in South Carolina. His poll numbers soared in Florida and large crowds lined up to see him. But Romney retooled his strategy, dropping his above-the-fray approach to directly attack Gingrich over his contract with
Also, members of Congress crashed Gingrich’s events on Romney’s behalf. They alternatively questioned and lampooned Gingrich’s temperament, ethics, and proclivity toward grandiose ideas, such as building a colony on the moon.
Romney helped his cause with a pair of strong debate performances last week, stealing what had been a Gingrich limelight.
Gingrich and his allies returned fire with their own negative ads, accusing Romney of being untruthful. But those attacks do not appear to have been effective.
A poll in the Miami Herald yesterday - with a front-page headline, “Mitt - by a lot’’ - showed Romney leading Gingrich by 11 points. The poll also showed him winning against President Obama in a head-to-head matchup, an indication that the former Massachusetts governor has managed to get his campaign back on track and lay claim to the contention that he is the most electable Republican.
The poll, sponsored by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times/El Nuevo Herald and conducted by conducted by MasonDixon Polling & Research, was the latest in a series of surveys that appear to show Romney expanding his lead. An NBC News/Marist poll released yesterday showed him with a 15-point lead, 42 percent to 27 percent for Gingrich.
Romney supporters and Republican Party elders, who were deeply worried after Gingrich won South Carolina, have been delighted at the effectiveness of the stop-Gingrich effort.
Tea Party activists and Gingrich backers, meanwhile, have watched in mounting anger and frustration.
Some are warning that tomorrow’s vote may be their last chance to stop Romney, whom they consider too moderate and too close to Wall Street.
“I hope this will be kind of a rally cry for those who understand this is the last stand - or could be the last stand - between the people, the citizens, and the establishment,’’ said Patricia Sullivan, who is chairwoman of The Tea Party Network, a coalition of 79 Tea Party groups in Florida.
Others sounded more resigned.
Billie Tucker, of the First Coast Tea Party in Jacksonville, said establishment Republicans have been able to overwhelm grass-roots conservatives with their well-financed airwaves war.
“They have a plan, they have their guy, and they’re going to make sure he’s going to win,’’ she said “They know that, in the long run, we’re going to vote for anybody but Obama.’’
At stops across Florida yesterday, Gingrich continued to court the Tea Party, railing against “Wall Street elites and Washington elites.’’
“I have an opponent with money power, and we need people power to offset money power,’’ Gingrich said in The Villages.
Today, Gingrich plans to campaign with Cain, the erstwhile candidate for president who endorsed him on Saturday night.
He is also hoping for a boost after Palin took to Fox News on Saturday night and urged Florida Republicans to “rage against the machine, vote for Newt, annoy a liberal, vote Newt, keep this vetting process going.’’
Romney has not let up in the closing hours. Once again demonstrating his deep bench of prominent Republican backers, Romney deployed top supporters to assail Gingrich for attacking his character and truthfulness.
Tim Pawlenty, the onetime presidential candidate and former Minnesota governor, called Gingrich’s comments “over the line.’’ Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia said he was “very disappointed.’’ And Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, added his voice to the chorus of criticism.
“Newt Gingrich is so desperate to prop up his sinking campaign that his message has devolved into a character assassination of Mitt Romney,’’ he said.
Bobby Caina Calvan of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mlevenson.