Romney credits change in tactics for Florida surge

Mitt Romney said yesterday he has overcome his South Carolina setback and returned to the Republican primary forefront by aggressively returning Newt Gingrich’s fire and by presenting himself as a Washington outsider.

Gingrich said Romney is “pretending he’s somebody he’s not”.

Romney said that in the days leading up to the South Carolina’s January 21 primary, he was getting beaten up rhetorically by the former House speaker on a variety of fronts and says he didn’t fight back very well. Now, Romney said, he has “pushed back” more effectively. He said he feels Florida’s voters are responding to his charges that Gingrich benefited from his business relationship with the mortgage giant Freddie Mac at a time when the housing market was taking a dive.

For his part, Gingrich argued that the former Massachusetts governor has bought “an amazing amount of ads” to leverage himself into better position for Florida’s primary today, but said it won’t work.

Gingrich said that on the big, philosophical issues, Romney “is for all practical purposes a liberal, I am a conservative”.

“It’s closing here in Florida,” Gingrich said, “and the next 24 hours is going to make a big difference.”

Romney said he believes he has reinvigorated his campaign through a combination of changes in his message and a change in campaign tactics. He said Gingrich’s charges that he is the establishment candidate aren’t working.

“It’s not selling here in Florida. . . He was able to get away with it in South Carolina. If there’s anybody that’s a Washington insider, it’s Newt Gingrich.”

The day voting begins in Florida’s primary, Romney is running ahead of Gingrich in polls. Romney earned positive reviews during two debates and has put the former House speaker on the defensive over ethics and Freddie Mac.

“It’s only when he can mass money to focus on carpet-bombing with negative ads that he gains any traction at all,” Gingrich is complaining.

But instead of stepping back and refocusing on President Barack Obama — as he did in Iowa when it became clear that Gingrich had lost — Romney is ratcheting up his rhetoric and continuing his attacks until the very end.

He hopes to close the Florida campaign strongly to push Gingrich as far back as possible.

In what has become a wildly unpredictable race, the momentum has swung back to Romney, who just last weekend was staggered by Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina. Romney has begun advertising in Nevada ahead of that state’s caucuses next Saturday, illustrating the challenges ahead for Gingrich, who has pledged to push ahead no matter what happens in Florida.

An NBC News/Marist poll published on Sunday showed Romney with support from 42% of likely Florida primary voters, compared with 27% for Gingrich.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, trailing in Florida by a wide margin, skipped campaigning to be with his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who was hospitalised. He planned to campaign in Missouri and Minnesota early this week.

Texas Republican Ron Paul, who has invested little in Florida, looked ahead to Nevada.