Nomination race ‘toughens Romney for Obama fight’

Barreling out of Florida with money and momentum on his side, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said yesterday that the bare-knuckled nomination fight thus far has toughened him up for contests to come.

Chief rival Newt Gingrich is regrouping after a significant loss and faces big disadvantages in the next states to vote.

Romney, who won big in Florida with a barrage of attack ads, predicted the tone of the GOP campaign was “just a precursor to what you’ll see” from President Barack Obama in the general election. And he said voters paid more attention to the campaign debates than whatever ads were flooding the airwaves.