Jarred by his South Carolina primary loss, GOP front-runner Mitt Romney believes he’s halted Newt Gingrich’s surge in Florida, but Team Mitt has drawn up a stopgap plan for February just in case the former speaker pulls a surprise in tomorrow’s Sunshine State primaries.
Romney associates say that the goal is a simple one and doable: Sweep or be very competitive in the February primaries and caucuses in Maine, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Arizona and Washington.
The plan looks to get a jump-start Tuesday if the polls showing a widening Romney lead in Florida come true. Romney associates say that the South Carolina scare awakened the campaign, which went on a savage assault of Gingrich, as it had in Iowa, where Romney, who was late to that race, lost by a hair to Rick Santorum. In Florida, the goal is to halt Gingrich’s surge and it seems to have worked.
“Just after South Carolina Newt was at his highest possible point in the polls but not for long,” says a Romney advisor. “We didn’t let Newt punch through,” adds the advisor. “We had a strong week, a good week, and we got back on track.”
A Florida victory for Romney, however, won’t result in any letting up on Gingrich. The Romney campaign runs on a motto of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” which means it’s already planning their Florida blitz.
It begins Saturday in the Nevada and Maine caucuses. In Nevada, where 26 percent of the 2008 GOP vote came from Mormons, Romney has already started running an ad that links Gingrich to the state’s horrific housing market. Says the ad: “While Nevada families lost everything in the housing crisis Newt Gingrich cashed in. Gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis.” In Maine, which caucuses over several days, the campaign is banking on a repeat of his 2008 victory and for his recent New Hampshire win to rub off.
Next Tuesday brings the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses. “Colorado is ours,” says a Romney associate. Minnesota, however, polls well for Gingrich, though a string of runner-ups could push voters to go with a winner. Missouri also holds a non-binding primary, where no delegates will be awarded, and Gingrich isn’t even the ballot. But a triple win would be a bad headline for Gingrich’s team.
Then there is a long stretch of no contests until February 28 when Michigan and Arizona hold primaries. In the most recent poll, Romney held a 38 percent to 29 percent edge over Gingrich in the state Romney’s dad once governed. And Arizona is home to Romney’s 2008 rival, Sen. John McCain, who has become Romney’s best surrogate in Florida.
“February favors us,” says a Romney advisor. “That’s when we’ll get our groove back.”
