TAMPA, Fla. — Newt Gingrich arrived in southwest Florida Monday afternoon fresh from his win in South Carolina and ready to take on Mitt Romney, who Gingrich has already eclipsed in new Sunshine State polls.
The Republican presidential race appears to have narrowed to Romney and Gingrich, at least in Florida, where Rep. Ron Paul said he will not compete and former Sen. Rick Santorum has invested little time or effort after coming in third in South Carolina.
Romney, who had been leading in Florida before South Carolinians picked Gingrich, held a roundtable discussion with business people in Tampa early Monday, after which he accused Gingrich of being unstable and potentially harboring information about his past private dealings that could create an “October surprise” in the general election against President Obama.
Gingrich laughed off the accusations and called them an act of a “desperate” candidate.
“If you’ve been campaigning for six years and you begin to see it slip away you get desperate,” Gingrich told a crowd outside the River Church near Tampa. “And when you get desperate, you say almost anything.”
Gingrich is enjoying a considerable bounce from his South Carolina win and is now leading Florida in the most recent Rasmussen Reports poll. He has 41 percent of the vote, compared to Romney’s 32 percent.
Turnout at the Gingrich rally was modest, with about 120 people waiting outside holding “Toot for Newt” and other signs.
Gingrich stuck to his familiar stump speech, telling the crowd he would be the best candidate to take on Obama because he can distinguish himself more clearly than Romney, who has waffled on important conservative issues and who some in the party have labeled a moderate.
“The central question in the Florida primary is simple,” Gingrich said. “Who do yo think has the ability in the debates to go toe to toe with Barack Obama?”
Gingrich will first have to go toe to toe with Romney’s campaign operations, which has been up and running in Florida for weeks before Gingrich even arrived.
Romney, unlike Gingrich, already has television and radio ads running but Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Gingrich support, said Gingrich has established campaign operations in each of the state’s 67 counties.
“I’m sure there will be ads running,” McCollum said.
The candidates will appear Monday night at a debate moderated by NBC and the National Journal.
Gingrich told supporters he is expecting plenty of attacks from Romney at the event.
“Tonight’s debate will probably stretch the barrier of almost anything,” Gingrich said.
